The chief economist to the Bank of England (BoE), Spencer Dale, has continued to argue for a base rate rise sooner rather than later. He has argued that inflationary pressures require a rate rise as soon as possible to remain under control. This is true for individuals and companies with savings, however those who are […]
UK interest rates were held at a record low for the 25th month in a row last week, which has posed questions to contractors who currently have a mortgage or are thinking of taking one. How long can this last? Should I assume rates will go up and take a 5 year fixed rate, or […]
Average house prices, as measured by the Halifax House price index, have fallen this month by 1.4% compared to last month’s average house price. All figures were seasonally adjusted and also showed a quarterly decline in average house price of 1.2% as compared to the three months before that. Housing economist, Martin Ellis, commented: \”The […]
Yesterday at 12pm the bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to hold the base rate at 0.5%. It has been held at 0.5% for 26 consecutive months. A few economists were predicting that this month would be when the MPC would start raising the base rate but most said that we would have […]
As many of you may be aware the Playstation network is down and we are hearing reports of their second online system going down as well. This has exposed their users’ data, and credit card details, passwords and names might all have gotten into the hands of the attackers. This has got many people wondering […]
After another successful month of predictions, contractor specialist mortgage broker Contractor Mortgages Made Easy has yet again held its own version of The Bank of England\’s Monetary Policy Committee. Last month, although the committee itself was split, three members out of nine voting for a raise, every one of the mortgage advisors that took part […]
A quarter of those surveyed said that they plan to work during the two bank holiday weekends. Many are using the time to catch up on paperwork that has built up over the last month. This double bank holiday will undoubtedly see many people catch up on outstanding tasks, but even more people would have […]
House purchase applications rose month on month in March by 11.6% and were up 20% year on year. This is according to Mortgage Advice Bureau and Coreco Group index. Head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Brian Murphy, commented: \”March figures are encouraging and continue the positive start to the year with another month-on-month increase […]
The UK has become the only European economy included in the IMF’s World Economic Report to have its growth projections cut. Released yesterday, the IMF provided forecasts for Germany, France, Italy and Spain out of these the UK’s world output growth was the only one to be downgraded. It was revised down from 1.7% growth […]
Mortgage approvals rose from 46,967 in February to 48,979 for the month of March. This marks a 4.3% increase month on month, the third such increase in a row. This translates to a 4.3% increase in contractor mortgage approvals if they are in line with standard mortgage products. The overall Loan to Value (LTV) increased […]
