After months and months of successive increases in house prices, it seems that many of the UK’s mainstream mortgage lenders are finally taking stock of what could be a potentially dangerous stage of the economic cycle. Mortgage approval figures for April fell to the lowest level for 12 months with many market observers sensing a sea change in the attitude of lenders.
A recent survey has found that a staggering £3.5 billion is being held in homes around the UK, losing an incredible £174 million in interest payments a year. While surveys in the past have uncovered a number of the UK population who have a lack of confidence in banks, like to store money or hide money form the tax man, the figure of £3.5 billion has beaten all expectations.
While we are all aware that interest rates have been, and continue to, move upwards, it seems that this is offering the financial community a chance to recoup some of their losses from elsewhere. There are reports in the press that some Banks have been increasing savings rates in line with base rate changes, but increasing loan rates by more than base rate changes.
So is this really a big deal?
For many years we have seen consumers place great trust in the so called “Best Buy†tables in many of the financial magazines. While they do offer a summary of the best offers available at the time, many in the industry have great reservations. Do all companies have the same access to these lists? Maybe not….
Insiders in the industry claim that :-
A recent report into the UK Credit Card industry has shown a sharp fall in profitability for the credit card providers, many of whom have been hit by bad debt provisions. It appears that 2006 was a bad year for the industry with the profit per card falling 40% to “just†£16 in the UK.
The European Union have again flexed their muscles in a move which has sent shock waves throughout the Mobile Phone industry - but who will be the real winner?
The EU recently announced plans to introduce a limit on the so called “roaming†charges in the mobile phone industry - these are the fees that local operators charge each other to ensure worldwide coverage. These “roaming†charges are now a massive part of overseas call charges, and the impact on the income of mobile phone companies has been substantial.
After a long investigation into the industry, the EU have forced through “roaming†price reductions of up to 75% - saving mobile phone users millions of pounds!
