Mortgage lending may be easing
June 22, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
Mortgage lending has continued to grow, with figures for May breaking records for the month.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says that May lending figures reached £30.6 billion, a 12 per cent increase on the £27.4 billion that was lent in April.
The figure was also a five per cent increase on the £29 billion that was lent in May 2006 but the CML says that this shows that the market is easing.
Despite breaking records, the year-on-year growth of five per cent is well below the typical 12-15 per cent increase we are used to seeing.
Although this is a clear sign of the market easing up, the CML says that May’s figures remain very strong.
“While today’s lending figure is a new record for the month of May, it does indicate that the market is slowing down following the rapid and sustained growth we saw last year,” said Michael Coogan, director general of the CML.
“Going forward we expect lending to ease as we progress through the year, but the market will remain in good shape.
“Although further interest rate rises will continue to dampen demand, we are still on course to meet our prediction of a record £360 billion of lending during 2007,” he added.
Some experts are expecting the introduction of Home Information Packs into the property market from August of this year to help boost house prices.
‘Misleading’ insurance firms slammed
January 16, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Insurance
A number of insurance firms have been slammed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for misleading customers.
A number of high-profile firms have been told that they must stop using savings claims in their advertising that could be misleading.
The FSA has threatened companies with regulatory action if the practice continues and it comes after a large-scale investigation into press advertisements from insurance firms.
It was found that more than half of all press advertisements from motor insurance companies were misleading or unclear.
Home insurance firms did not perform much better, with over a quarter said to be misleading, while travel insurance advertisements were found to be of a higher standard.
“Most people rely on some form of insurance to protect them and advertising is a major influence on what they choose to buy,” said Vernon Everitt, FSA’s retail themes director.
“So it must be clear, fair and not misleading, leaving people with a balanced picture of what’s on offer. This work demonstrates that firms in the home, travel and car insurance markets must shape up and ensure that the claims they make don’t mislead.
“We will be back in three months to assess progress and will then decide whether further regulatory action is needed,” he added.
The FSA says it has contacted the senior management of offending firms, but some industry experts are calling for the companies to be named and shamed.
