Posts Tagged ‘bank of england’


New borrowing on credit cards and loans on the rise

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Official figures that have been recently released have shown that new borrowing on credit cards, loans, and overdrafts has been increasing, with the level of new borrowing outweighing the amount that has been repaid by consumers for the first time since June of last year. (more…)


Up To 4 Percent Increase In House Prices Says CEBR

Friday, January 15th, 2010

It has been forecast by the Centre for Economic and Business Research that house price increases next year will start to moderate and stabilise after a series of increases over recent months. (more…)


Cost Of Personal Loans Increased By Banks

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Recent figures have shown that since the start of this year the cost of personal loans has been increased by banks, and this is despite the fact that the base interest rate has been at an all time low of just 0.5 percent for the past nine months. Since the start of this year the cost of a best buy loan for £5000 is said to have increased by around 1.54 percent to 10.78 percent according to reports. (more…)


Homeowners better off due to low interest rates

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Just eighteen months ago many homeowners in the UK were facing crippling mortgage repayments because of the high base interest rate, and many found that they were unable to keep on top of these repayments fuelling a surge in property repossessions across the UK. (more…)


Mortgage lending in October increased compared to previous month

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Figures that were recently released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders have shown that there was a month on month increase in mortgage lending for the month of October, with mortgage lending for the month rising by around 5 percent compared to September. (more…)


Borrowers trying to pay off more debt

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Recent figures have shown that whist mortgage lending was up in October compared to September it appears that the residents of Great Britain are keeping focussed on paying off as much debt as possible. (more…)


Bank of England throws more money at economy

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Following the most recent Monetary Policy Committee meeting the Bank of England announced that it was throwing even more money at the economy in the form of quantitative easing, which has already cost £175 billion. (more…)


Britain continues to languish in recession

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Over the past few weeks many industry officials and groups were convinced that Britain was at last coming out of the other side of the recession. It was widely expected that official third quarter figures would show that there had been an increase in economic output and that the nation would officially be out of recession. (more…)


Economist warns on interest rate increases in 2010

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Since April of this year the base interest rate has been at its lowest rate in the history of the Bank of England, which spans over three hundred years, and currently stands at just 0.5 percent. (more…)


No change to interest rates for September

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

With the September Monetary Policy Committee meeting having been held last week the Bank of England has announced that there is to be no change in the current base interest rate, which will remain at its record low of just 0.5 percent for yet another month. (more…)


Another hold on the base interest rate

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Earlier this week the Monetary Policy Committee met up for the July monthly meeting with regards to reviewing the base interest rate. (more…)


Savings on mortgage repayments being saved by families

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Since the onset of the global credit crunch the government and the Bank of England have been trying to find ways of boosting the ailing economy, housing market, and mortgage sector. (more…)


Thousands of mortgages a month being turned down by banks

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Recently released figures have shown that every month thousand of mortgage applications in the UK are being turned down by lenders. (more…)


Bank of England confirms negative equity figures

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

The Bank of England has recently confirmed figures relating to the levels of negative equity amongst homeowners in the UK following around twenty months of house price falls. (more…)


Nationwide hikes standard mortgage rate

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Britain’s largest building society, Nationwide, decided earlier this month to increase its interest rates on standard variable rate mortgages, which has sparked fears that other lenders will follow suit. (more…)


RICS wants increased funding for mortgage sector

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

Officials from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors have called for an increase in funds to be injected into the mortgage sector. (more…)


Mortgage approval levels increase in February

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Recently released figures have shown that the level of mortgage approvals for the month of February increased by more than many industry officials had been expecting. (more…)


Lower Bank Rates to Stimulate the Economy

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

For the first time in history, the bank rate charged by the Bank of England stands at 0.5%, the sixth straight cut to the rate in an effort to revive the sagging economy. Another policy introduced by the bank is that of quantitative easing, which means the bank will place more money in the system to the tune of £75 billion. (more…)


Those with fixed rate mortgage may be losing out

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

A recent report has highlighted how many British homeowners that have fixed rate mortgage deals in place may be missing out financially because of the cut in interest rates over recent months. (more…)


Record low for UK interest rates

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Following the recent Monetary Policy Committee meeting held last week the Bank of England has announced that the UK base interest rate has been cut yet again, falling by 0.5 percent from 2 percent to just 1.5 percent. (more…)


CML stands up for mortgage lenders

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has recently spoken out to defend its member banks, after some banks were criticised for failing to pass on base rate cuts and were accused of making a profit. The CML insists that its member banks are actually profiteering, and recently released a statement to this effect. (more…)


Borrowers may start to see rate cut benefits

Monday, December 8th, 2008

According to recent reports many borrowers may start to benefit from the recent base interest rate cuts, as many lenders – under pressure from the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown – are now responding the recent rate cuts, and are cutting their own borrowing interest rates accordingly. In October of this year the Bank of England, along with other global central banks, applied a surprise base rate cut of 0.5% a day before the scheduled Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which is where interest rate movement is normally determined. (more…)


House prices may continue to fall in 2009 and 2010

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Officials from the Nationwide Building Society have recently stated that the fall in house prices in the UK could continue over the course of 2009 and even into 2010. The building society, which has slashed mortgage lending like many other lenders since the onset of the global credit crunch, has said that the housing market is likely to remain subdued for the foreseeable future, which spells bad news for homeowners, who may lose their equity and even end up in negative equity. (more…)


Lenders say they will pass on base rate cut

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Following the recent 1.5% base rate cut, and in response to calls from the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, a number o major lenders in the UK have said that they will be passing on the full 1.5% rate cut to borrowers over the coming weeks. As hoped by the government this could help to ease the financial situation for many consumers, and could ultimately help to boost the flagging economy, as consumers find themselves with more money to spend in the run up to Christmas. (more…)


Base rate cuts need time to take effect

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

A policymaker from the Bank of England has said that the recent rate cuts are going to take some time to take effect and feed through to the economy. Andrew Sentance reckons that negative performance indicators in the economy will continue into next year despite the recent drastic rate cuts, as these will need time to actually filter through and will not make any immediate difference to the economy. (more…)


Lending from banks becomes even tighter

Friday, November 7th, 2008

According to a recent report lending amongst UK banks is getting even more difficult, and many of the banks and building societies in the UK are set to cut their lending level even more than they have over the past year, since the onset of the global credit crunch. This data comes from a report from the Bank of England. The report also claims that the fall in new mortgages over the past three months had been bigger than expected. (more…)


Banks cut mortgage rates after surprise announcement

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Earlier this week the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced that the UK base rate was being cut by 0.5% from 5% to 4.5% in a surprise move one day ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting. Other central banks around the globe, including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, also cut their base rates by 0.5% in a bid to try and stabilise the financial markets, boost the economy, and restore consumer confidence. (more…)


Surprise rate cut from central banks

Monday, October 20th, 2008

Earlier this week the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, called a press conference where they announced that the UK’s base interest rate had been cut by 0.5% in an unprecedented move that saw central banks around the glob cutting their interest rates. The move came just one day before the Monetary Policy Committee meeting – where the interest rate movement is normally decided – was due to go ahead. (more…)


Households could save thousands if rate cuts go ahead

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

There has been a great deal of speculation over when and by how much the Bank of England will cut the base interest rate over the next year, with inflationary pressures coupled with the threat of recession making decisions challenging for the Monetary Policy Committee. A number of industry officials have now said that the state of the economy will result in the central bank cutting rates a number of times over the next twelve months, with some guessing that the base rate could fall to 3.5% next year. (more…)


BoE states buyers hoping to get 20% off price of a home

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Since the housing slump began some months ago in the UK there have been many problems for homeowners that are trying to sell their properties. Property sales in England and Wales have gone through the floor for a number of reasons. Falling house prices have put some people off buying for fear of falling into negative equity. Tighter credit conditions have made it impossible for some to get a mortgage and buy a home. In fact, a number of factors have affected buyers’ ability or willingness to make a purchase. (more…)