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…)
Tags: bank of england, base rateAccording 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…)
Tags: bank of england, interest ratesEarlier 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…)
Tags: mortgage rates, bank of england, interest ratesEarlier 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…)
Tags: federal reserve, bank of england, interest ratesThere 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…)
Tags: mortgages, bank of england, interest ratesSince 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…)
Tags: bank of englandEarlier this month the Monetary Policy Committee met for its monthly meeting in order to discuss the base rate, and it was decided following the meeting that the base interest rate would be kept on hold at 5%. The base rate was last cut in April, following two earlier rate cuts. However, despite concerns over the slowing economy and the effects of the global credit crunch on consumer finance and confidence the Bank of England decided to focus more on rising inflation levels, thus deciding to keep the base rate at 5%. (more…)
Tags: monetary committee, interest rates, bank of englandIn April of this year the Bank of England cut the base rate for the third time since December of last year, cutting it by a further 0.25% and taking it from 5.25% to 5%. Following the rate cut the majority of analysts and economists predicted that there would not be a further interest rate cut in May, as the central bank has not cut rates back to back for seven years. These predictions were proven right, as the Bank of England announced that there is to be no base rate cut for May following the recently Monetary Policy Committee meeting. (more…)
Tags: bank of england, mortgages, interest ratesAn industry official has expressed concern that the Bank of England is effectively losing control of retail interest rates, stating that the recent base rate cuts by the central bank have often gone ignored by lenders, who have continued to raise their interest rates despite the base rate cut. Since December there have been three cuts in the base rate, taking it from 5.75% to 5%, but many lenders have continued hiking up the interest rates on borrowing such as mortgages, personal loans, and credit cards. (more…)
Tags: mortgages, bank of england, interest ratesRecent figures show that mortgage approval levels have been plummeting over recent months, with the number of mortgage approval levels falling to 64,000 in March. This was a 44% drop from the same period a year earlier, and was the lowest level since records began in 1999. The falling figures have stemmed from the global credit crunch, which has resulted in lenders tightening up on their lending criteria as well as falling house prices, which has put many people off making a purchase. (more…)
Tags: mortgages, bank of englandThe UK’s financial markets are in something of a mess as a result of the global credit crunch, which made its way across the nation last summer. All areas of finance have been affected, such as loans, credit cards, and mortgages. Consumer confidence has taken a dive, the economy has been adversely affected, and lending conditions have become tighter than ever, as lender struggle to raise funds to finance their lending operations. (more…)
Tags: mortgages, bank of england, council of mortgage lendersFollowing a recent meeting with banking and mortgage officials the government has announced that there will be help in place to assist struggling homeowners that are in danger of losing their homes due to mortgage arrears. This includes those that are coming off cheap fixed rate mortgage, many of whom could face losing their homes when their mortgage interest rate and their monthly repayments rocket once their current deal comes to an end. (more…)
Tags: fixed rate mortgages, bank of england, mortgages, governmentChancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has recently announced that he wants banks to do what they can to help the more vulnerable families in the country, stating that banks need to help struggling homeowners in order to reduce the risk of rocketing repossession levels. Both Darling and the Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, have stated that banks need to give more time to families that fall behind with their repayments. (more…)
Tags: mortgage rescue plan, bank of england, interest rates, mortgagesThe Bank of England announced earlier this week that the base rate was being cut by 0.25%, taking the base rate from 5.25% down to 5%. The announcement came after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday, but did not come as a surprise to many industry experts who had been expecting the bank to cut rates as a result of the slowing economy and the credit squeeze. (more…)
Tags: mortgages, interest rates, bank of englandFollowing the latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting last week the Bank of England has decided to keep interest rates on hold amidst concerns over rising inflation. Although there have been calls for the central bank to cut rates as a result of the flagging economy officials have also had to take into consideration the risks of rising inflation as well as a slowing economy. (more…)
Tags: mortgages, bank of england, interest rates, economyWith a multitude of mortgages available what are the benefits and disadvantages of the product known as a tracker mortgage? (more…)
Tags: bank of england, tracker mortgages, mortgagesbase rate