admin How did you spend the lockdown period? For a lot of people, it has a lot to do with the TV. Market research firm Kantar estimated in May that a fifth of all households in the UK had subscribed to a streaming TV service such as Amazon Prime, Netflix or newly launched Disney+ since lockdown … Read more
The amount of money lent from new mortgages fell by a third in June while credit card borrowing jumped by £1 billion, as households adjusted to the rising cost of living. Mortgage debt fell by a third (33.75 per cent) compared to May and now stands at £5.3bn, although still above pre-pandemic levels of £4.3bn. … Read more
Buy now, pay later giant Klarna has launched an ad campaign asking users to consider whether what they’re buying is essential, despite boasting to retailers that it helps people spend more. The company, one of Europe’s most successful startups with 8.6 million users in the UK and an estimated valuation of $5.5 billion, has faced … Read more
New figures reveal that home hunters need to spend nearly nine times their annual income to purchase a property. The average cost of a home sold in England is 8.7 times the average annual disposable household income. Meanwhile, in Wales and Scotland, the multipliers are lower at six and 5.5 respectively, according to the latest … Read more
Buy now, pay later on Square Checkout in recent years allowing shoppers to buy items without paying for them right away has technically dumped many. New research shows that nearly a third of people say they don’t consider late payments a debt. “The emergence of new forms of credit, such as buy now and pay … Read more
Hit hard: Homeowners are facing price increases costing them hundreds of pounds Mortgage rates are rising at a record pace, putting homeowners at risk of making annual payments hundreds of pounds higher than they have been in recent years. The two-year average fixed interest rate is now at a nine-year high, and 1.4 percentage points … Read more
The banks revealed in their results today that hundreds of thousands of Barclays and Santander customers have taken paid holidays on credit cards, personal loans and mortgages. Meanwhile, official figures from the Bank of England show that households have cleared billions of pounds of debt over the past few months. Santander, Britain’s third-biggest mortgage lender, … Read more
Research has found that nearly a fifth of Londoners are buying homes outside the capital than before the pandemic. Londoners bought 40,540 homes outside the city in the first half of this year, up 19 per cent from the average for the years 2015 to 2019 of 34,140, according to research from the Hamptons. While … Read more
Diners looking to take advantage of the government’s 50 percent discount plan starting Monday can take a deeper understanding of the cost, if they have an American Express credit card. Its ‘Shop Small’ campaign has been running since late June and gives those who spend at least £10 in participating shops and restaurants £5 on … Read more
Getting approved for a mortgage may become easier for some borrowers, as the Bank of England will no longer require lenders to take a “stress” test of affordability. The central bank test required lenders to calculate whether borrowers would still be able to afford their monthly payments if interest rates rose 3 percent above their … Read more