Archive for the ‘Credit crisis’ Category
Friday, August 15th, 2008
Official figures show 28,658 mortgage possession orders were made in England and Wales during the second quarter of the year, up 24% on the same period a year ago. In London, the number of court orders rose by 12% to 4,052. There were large increases at several county courts including Edmonton, 34% to 395, Kingston-upon-Thames, 22 per cent to 93, and Brentford, 20 per cent to 191. A mortgage repossession order, granted by a court, entitles the claimant - usually a lender - to apply to have the occupier evicted. But a significant number of homeowners issued with an order manage to avoid being forced out.
Councils are also looking at a safety net scheme where they would take over the mortgage, or part of it, of people falling into arrears and then rent back the property.
Tags: Brentford, Edmonton, eviction, Kingston-upon-Thames, mortgage repossession, official figures, Repossession
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Home loans, Mortgages, Property, Repossession | No Comments »
Friday, August 15th, 2008
The giant American investment bank, which employs thousands in the City, has made losses of $29bn (£15bn) for its exposure to the US subprime mortgage crisis. But it has charged the amount to its British arm, meaning it can offset the losses against corporation tax for decades to come.
Accountants say that the move, which is set to spark anger among ordinary taxpayers, is legal but unusual. All big banks have suffered from dramatic writedowns on investments linked to the US housing market but so far Merrill is the only one to charge the entire loss to the UK. The move will reduce payments to the Government at a time when its finances are in disarray. It will also raise eyebrows in the City and cause consternation at the Treasury.
The paper calculates that if Merrill starts making profits again at the rate it did in 2006 - a record year - it still won’t have to pay any corporation tax for the next 60 years.
Tags: corporate tax, Merrill Lynch, subprime, subprime mortgage crisis, US housing
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Finance, Sub-prime, Taxation | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
The major banks have made nearly £500m more from UK customers in six months despite the credit crunch through account holders by charging more for mortgages, loans and credit cards. Figures show five of the country’s biggest banks - Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland Barclays, HSBC and HBOS - made combined half-year profits of £4.294bn, nearly £500m more than the £3.808bn raised during the same period last year.
The figures reveal the Royal Bank of Scotland increased its profits from its UK businesses by 9.2%. This is despite the global company announcing losses of £691m last week - one of the biggest in UK banking history.
Tags: Credit crunch, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, major banks, profits, Royal Bank of Scotland Barclays
Posted in Banking, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Finance | No Comments »
Friday, August 8th, 2008
The number of homes being repossessed leapt by 41% in the first half of the year to hit the highest level since the mid-1990s and by 48% compared to the same period in 2007. During the 1990s house price crash repossessions peaked at 38,900 in the second half of 1991, with a total of 75,500 homes seized that year. However, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has predicted repossessions to accelerate further that it’s current figure of 18,900 and hit 45,000 this year. The CML said it expected 170,000 mortgages to be in arrears of more than three months by the end of the year, however the numbers remained small in context of the 11.74 million mortgage borrowers in the UK.
Tags: arrears, CML, Council of Mortgage Lenders, Mortgages, Repossession, repossession rise
Posted in Credit crisis, Finance, Mortgages, Property Market, Repossession, Sub-prime | No Comments »
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
Builder Persimmon today axed 2000 jobs as it fights the worst slump in the housing market for 30 years. the firm has cut 1100 of its full-time workforce since the start of the year and plans to lay off 900 temporary staff. It followed 1000 job cuts at rival Barratt Developments and 900 at Taylor Wimpey - with hundreds more expected at the likes of Bovis Homes and Redrow before the bloodletting is over.
Persimmon also said house sales fell 31% in the first half of the year with the average selling price down from £189,255 to £181,500, leaving revenues 34% down on last year. Shares in the housebuilding sector have crashed by around 90% since early last year as the housing boom ground to a halt.
Tags: Barratt, Bovis Homes, house builder, job cuts, Persimmon, profits down, Redrow, selling price, shares, Taylor Wimpey
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, House builders, House prices, Property Market, Property Prices | No Comments »
Friday, July 11th, 2008
The Bank of England held interest rates steady at 5.0% on Thursday, in a widely expected decision as policymakers tussle with the twin evils of a slowing economy and surging inflation. By keeping rates on hold this month, the Bank is buying itself a little more time to see what interest rate path is required to bring inflation back close to the 2% target from the current 4.1% over the medium term.
Tags: Bank of England, base rate, boe, inflation, interest rate, interest rate held
Posted in Bank of England, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Finance, Rate hunch, inflation | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Former specialist mortgage lender Edeus is offering cash sweeteners to encourage its borrowers to redeem their mortgages early. It is also waiving early repayment charges and will not charge borrowers exit fees. The incentives are available to selected clients over an undisclosed period. Edeus will be encouraging the selected borrowers to contact the brokers that originally introduced the loan to Edeus in order to source a suitable deal with another lender. The firm, launched less than two years ago, was a specialist lender at the forefront of the UK’s subprime mortgage sector but plans to move into asset quality assessment and debt management.
Tags: borrowers, Debt Management, Edeus, Edeus incentives, quality assessment, redeem mortgage, redeem mortgages, specialist lender, subprime mortgage
Posted in Credit crisis, Debt Management, Finance, Mortgages, Sub-prime | No Comments »
Monday, July 7th, 2008
Chancellor Alistair Darling aims to raise the amount of money protected from the current £35,000 to a new ceiling of £50,000. Savers who lose money when a bank goes under will be given compensation within a week, instead of months. However, banks said making them pay up-front would divert vital capital away at a time when they were already under pressure from the credit crunch. So instead, the new scheme will borrow money from the public sector, if necessary, to enable quick payments. The Chancellor believes more generous protection will cut the risk of panic if a bank is rumoured to be in trouble.
Tags: alistair darling, Chancellor, Credit crunch, Savings, savings protection, savings protection proposal, savings protection scheme
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Government, Savings | No Comments »
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
Tags: bad debt, barratts, credit card, Credit crunch, estate agents, FTSE 100, Halifax, HBOS, house price falls, House prices, mortgage
Posted in Credit cards, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, FTSE 100, Finance, Halifax, Home loans, House prices, Mortgages, Negative equity, Property, Property Market, Property Prices, Stock Market | No Comments »
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
Lloyds TSB has struck a three-year deal to take on Northern Rock customers who are coming to the end of fixed rate mortgage deals. Certain mortgage customers will be offered the opportunity to switch to a Lloyds from July. The deal will assist Northern Rock in reducing the size of its balance sheet. Lloyds has set a maximum loan to value ratio of about 80% for the mortgages it will take on, but it said this will be flexible. The tax payers obviously have the rough end of the deal here - as Northern Rock which is now state owned will be left with the riskiest borrowers, just as housing repossessions are expected to rise. Northern Rock itself warned last month that arrears were rising and shifting customers could become more difficult as the economy worsens and rivals cut back on lending.
Tags: Lloyds TSB, Loan to value, LTV, mortgage, mortgage deals, mortgage switch, Northern rock
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Home loans, Lloyds TSB, Mortgages, Northern rock, Property Market, Repossession | No Comments »
