The Bank of England has recently reported that the level of lending to businesses in the UK has been falling. The figures were released in the central bank’s recently released Trends in Lending report, and showed that in October there had been a slightly bigger fall in lending to businesses than in the previous month. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘credit crunch’
Fall in lending to businesses according to central bank
Sunday, January 17th, 2010
Consumers looking for mortgages over longer terms
Friday, June 26th, 2009According to official from a mortgage broker group more and more people in the UK are now looking to take mortgage loans out over longer terms. The officials claim that over half of the people that came to get help in finding a mortgage product were looking for terms of at least three years. (more…)
Quantitative easing will prove successful
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009A number of economists have predicted that the governments plan to try quantitative easing in order to boost the economy will prove successful. (more…)
Property sales sink again in February, states RICS
Thursday, March 26th, 2009Since the onset of the global credit crunch credit conditions and mortgage lending have become very restricted, and many people are finding it difficult to get a mortgage or other type of credit, which has had a severe knock on effect on many different industries. (more…)
Situation with mortgages set to get tougher
Monday, March 2nd, 2009In 2008 the UK went through a very turbulent financial period, and after ten years of relatively laid back and easy credit conditions many consumers felt the sharp shock of suddenly being unable to get their hands on affordable credit. (more…)
What will our Christmas spending be like this year?
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008Many consumers in the UK have had a very difficult financial year over the past twelve months for a number of reasons. Whilst interest rates have now dropped to 3% after some drastic cuts by the Bank of England many have spent the past year trying to cope with high repayments, which has left them struggling to make ends meet. In addition to this inflation levels have soared to record highs, which has also affected consumer finances. The cost of food has rocketed, petrol prices have soared, and energy bills have gone through the roof, which means that all in all it has been a very bleak year for most people financially. (more…)
Financial crisis prompts more people to take debt advice
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008The effects of the global financial crisis are being reflected in the rising number of people seeking advice about their debts, according to officials from the Citizens Advice Bureau. The CAB claims that over the past year the level of enquiries relating to debt problems has soared by one third, and over the past few months alone, with finances getting increasingly tight for many households, there has been a sharp spike in the number of debt related enquiries. (more…)
How are buy to let investors being affected by the global credit crunch and falling house prices?
Monday, September 29th, 2008Both consumers and lenders have been adversely affected by the global credit crunch since it swept across the nation last summer. Lenders have found it increasingly difficult and expensive to secure finance on the wholesale money markets to fund their mortgage lending activities, and as such have had to slash the number of mortgage products available by two thirds in the space of a year, increase interest rates on mortgages, hike up arrangement fees on mortgages, raise deposit levels on mortgage loans, and restrict access to many mortgage products. (more…)
London estate agent closes its doors on sales
Sunday, September 7th, 2008The poor activity in the housing market in terms of sales has affected many different industries, such as property removal industry, property lawyers, furniture retailers, and estate agents. Over recent months there have been many concerns raised about the number of estate agencies that could end up closing down as a result of poor property sales, and recently a London estate agency announced that after seventeen years it was finally closing the doors on property sales. (more…)
Slump in lending levels fuelled by credit crunch
Thursday, May 29th, 2008According to a recent report the global credit crunch that has swept across the financial markets in the UK has resulted in a slump in lending levels in the mortgage markets, with a 17% year on year drop indicated in mortgage lending levels. In March the amount lent out in mortgage loans came to around £26.3 billion, and this was a drop of over £5 billion compared to just one year earlier, before the credit crunch took a hold in the UK. (more…)
Lenders needs to be more careful on checking applicant information
Monday, May 26th, 2008A recent report has shown that a worrying number of lenders are failing to carry out important checks into the income of applicants that apply for unsecured finance, and there are concerns that this could lead to many people getting into unmanageable debt levels and could result in an increase in bad debt levels in the UK. (more…)
What’s in store for the UK economy?
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008Over recent months the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee have faced a tough decision when it comes to setting interest rates. This is because on one hand the central bank needs to be very cautious about cutting the baste rate because of rising inflation, but on the other hand the bank needs to cut the base rate in order to boost the slowing economy. (more…)
Hikes in personal loan rates may mean credit cards are more viable option
Monday, May 19th, 2008According to a recent report some consumers may now be better off using their credit cards as a form of finance rather than opting for a personal loan because loan rates have been hiked up by huge amounts since the onset of the global credit crunch. Credit cards are well known for the high rates of interest charged, but officials state that even so some people may find that they are the cheaper option when compared to a personal unsecured loan with a sky-high interest rate. (more…)
Nationwide asks for larger deposits from borrowers
Monday, May 19th, 2008The Nationwide Building Society recently joined a number of other lenders who have decided to try and recoup the losses incurred by the global credit crunch by asking for a larger deposit from mortgage borrowers. In the past some consumers were able to avoid paying a deposit by taking out a 100% mortgage, and in some cases could even borrow more than the value of the property by taking a 125% mortgage. (more…)
Credit crunch leads to increase fraud on finance applications
Friday, May 16th, 2008According to a recent report the effects of the global credit crunch have gone much further than simply making it more difficult to get finance in the UK. Industry officials claim that many consumers are now committing higher levels of fraud on finance applications as a result of the credit crunch, as they think that this is the only way that they will be able to get credit in light of the tighter credit conditions that have come about as a result of the credit squeeze. (more…)
Mortgages could continue to get more expensive
Monday, May 12th, 2008According to a recent report banking officials have warned MPs and the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, that the cost of mortgages may continue to climb over the coming months, despite the launch of a £50 billion mortgage rescue plan introduced by the government, where banks will be able to exchange mortgage assets for government bonds for increased security. Banking officials have stated that the plan may take a number of months to take effect, and in the meantime the cost of mortgage borrowing may continue to get higher. (more…)
The credit squeeze continues
Monday, May 12th, 2008It was in the summer of last year when most of us heard the expression ‘global credit crunch’ for the first time. At that time few of us knew just what a dominating force the credit crunch would be in the world of finance, but over eight months later this phenomenon continues to wreak havoc in the financial markets both in the UK and across the globe. (more…)
How Is The Credit Crunch Affecting Building Societies?
Monday, April 14th, 2008There seems to be some confusion over just how the credit crunch is affecting building societies in the UK, with conflicting opinions from various officials within the building societies industry. When the global credit crunch took a hold it became quite apparent very quickly that the larger banks and financial institutions in the UK were going tom experience massive problems. Indeed, larger banks and lenders did start to experience many problems, with increasing difficulties when it came to securing finances on the wholesale markets in order to fund their lending operations. (more…)
Industry expert predicts 20% fall in house prices over two years
Saturday, March 29th, 2008A financial industry expert, who also worked as an advisor to the government, has predicted that house prices in the UK could plummet by 20% over the next couple of years, providing a gloomy outlook for homeowners. The average property price could plummet from £200,000 to just £160,000 if the predictions of Professor David Miles are correct, and homeowner that have recently purchased properties and paid the current high prices could soon find that their properties are worth far less than they paid for them. (more…)
Loans market still suffering due to credit crunch
Thursday, March 20th, 2008Recent reports have shown that the loans market continues to suffer as a result of the global credit crunch, with rates on personal loans continuing to soar despite base rate cuts, and with the number of sub-prime mortgages available on the market falling rapidly. According to industry officials the number of lenders offering sub-prime mortgages has fallen from 32 to just 20, and consumers looking for personal loans are having to pay out far more in interest rates. (more…)