Posts Tagged ‘Northern rock’
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
Northern rock has issued its first competitive mortgage rates since a run on the bank almost brought it to its knees last summer. It has two-year fixed-rate loans that, while not the very best on the market, are good enough to bring in new customers. For buyers there is a rate of 6.39% and for remortgagers a rate of 6.49%. Both have a £995 fee. The lowest rates for two-year fixed deals are available from First Direct and Yorkshire BS.
Northern Rock has been trying to move existing customers to rivals since last September. Its rates have got progressively more expensive as it tried to price itself out of the market to avoid taking on new business. These new rates are not available for existing customers. While these rates are not the very best, where they have a big advantage is that they are fully flexible, meaning you can overpay as much as you like without penalty.
Tags: buyers, existing customers, First Direct, fixed rate, mortgage, new rates, no repayment penalty, Northern rock, remortgage, two-year fixed rate, Yorkshire BS
Posted in Banking, Credit crunch, Finance, Government, Mortgages, Northern rock, Re-mortgage | 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 »
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
Northern Rock has pulled its 125% mortgage after heavy public criticism for the super-size homeloan. The troubled bank will no longer offer the Together mortgage to new customers as it seeks to move towards low-risk lending and shrink its mortgage book. Alliance & Leicester, Abbey, Coventry Building Society and Godiva all pulled their 125% homeloans earlier this week. The only lender still offering 125% mortgages is Birmingham Midshires and experts have suggested it will soon take the product off the market. Fears have been raised that those coming to the end of 100%-plus mortgages may be in for a payment shock and unable to find credit elsewhere. Mortgage lenders have been reassessing their ranges in response to tighter market conditions and have become more reluctant to lend to those with chequered credit histories or high loan-to-value ratios.
Tags: 125% mortgages, Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, Birmingham Midshires, Coventry Building Society, Godiva, high loan-to-value, Northern rock, Northern Rock mortgages
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Finance, First-time buyers, Mortgages, Northern rock, Personal Finance, Property, Property Market, Property Prices | No Comments »
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
The government decided to nationalise Northern Rock today, abandoning a five-month attempt to find a private sector buyer for the ailing bank. “In the current market conditions we do not believe the two proposals deliver sufficient value for money for the taxpayer,” Finance minister Alistair Darling told a news conference. “So the government has decided to bring forward legislation to bring Northern Rock into a temporary period of public ownership.” The government will put forward legislation on tomorrow to take the bank into public hands — the first major nationalisation in Britain since the 1970s — and trading in Northern Rock shares was suspended.
Tags: alistair darling, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, finance minister, Government, legislation, nationalisation, nationalised, Northern rock, public ownership
Posted in Banking, Consumer, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Finance, Politics, Stock Market | No Comments »
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Within hours of the Bank’s announcement at noon, nine of the top ten lenders said they would pass the full quarter-point cut to their borrowers. Only the stricken Northern Rock did not move its rates following the decision to bring down rates from 5.5% to 5.25%. The ‘rush to cut’ follows criticism of banks and building societies for ripping off mortgage holders after the last rate reduction just before Christmas. About 20% of lenders did not pass on the whole of the December decrease to hard-pressed borrowers. The rate cut will help only the minority of borrowers, roughly one in five, who have a mortgage with a variable interest rate. About 50% of homeowners have a fixed-rate loan which will not be affected.
Tags: fixed rate, Northern rock, Rate reduced, variable rate
Posted in Banking, Mortgages, Property | No Comments »
Monday, January 21st, 2008
Today’s detailed plans to rescue Northern Rock involves converting the £25bn of Bank of England loans into bonds that would be sold off to investors. The bonds would be available for up to five years after which any remaining debt would be written-off. Critics point out that the scale of the rescue package is highly risky. In the event of a catastrophic downturn in the housing market, with Northern Rock mortgage holders defaulting on their debts, the taxpayer would be left seriously out of pocket. With this new deal, potential purchasers of Northern Rock will no longer be responsible for paying back the loan and will have until February 4 to make a renewed bid to the government. In return for taxpayer support, the government will receive a percentage of the new owner’s profits. If the government was unable to secure a sale, then nationalisation would become necessary.
Tags: Bank of England, bid, bonds, deadline, nationalisation, Northern rock, rescue plan
Posted in Finance, Other, Politics | No Comments »
Friday, December 14th, 2007
In the UK, Northern Rock’s shares (Britain’s fifth largest mortgage bank) have been the worst hit by the credit crunch dropping from £12 early in the year to less the £1. It will be relgated later this month to the bottom of FTSE 250 index for medium sized companies. Just narrowly missing the index that tracks small sized companies.
Tags: Credit crunch, FTSE 100, FTSE 250, Northern rock
Posted in Banking, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, FTSE 100, Finance, Investments, Stock Exchange, Stock Market | No Comments »
Friday, December 14th, 2007
For the past two weeks, the bank has been offering loyalty bonuses to savers and increased rates to a range of savings accounts. But on the other hand, it has withdrawn mortgages, loans, credit card, and increased borrowing rates to rediculous highs with huge arrangement fees. Obvious signs that its trying to recoupe some of its loses after its savers decided to match away with their money in toe back in October. It has since then borrowed more money from the Bank of England to the tune of £29bn. The move has pushed some of its savings products up the best buy tables and deterred mortgage brokers with fixed rates starting from 6.79% on 90% LTV with arrangement fee of £1,995. As a good loyal Northern Rock mortgage customer, I will have to match off too unless they sort this out.
Tags: Credit crisis, Loans, Mortgages, Northern rock, Savings
Posted in Banking, Consumer, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Finance, Investments, Loans, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Savings | No Comments »
