Clegg takes on the IFS

Opinion Former Comments

CML chairman's speech: "More certainty for essential market recovery"

More certainty, greater clarity, less politics and longer term objectives are essential in helping the mortgage market recover according to CML Chairman Nigel Terrington in his speech to an audience of over 600 people at the CML annual lunch.

CML: Mortgage market diversity: our mutual friends - and non-banks!

Today’s issue celebrates diversity in the mortgage market – we welcome today’s expansion of Funding for Lending to help non-banks, and report the strong recent growth of the building society sector.

CML response to EU mortgage credit directive

The Council of Mortgage Lenders today welcomed the Irish Presidency's announcement that agreement on the EU Mortgage Credit Directive has been reached and that the scope of the new rules is unlikely to cause problems for domestic lenders. The proposed rules sit alongside consumer protection measures due to be introduced in the UK by the FCA's new Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules.

CML reports lowest number of repossessions since 2007

The Council of Mortgage Lenders today reports a fall in the number of properties taken into possession by first-charge residential mortgage lenders from 8,200 in the third quarter of 2012 to 7,700 in the fourth quarter, maintaining a repossession rate of 0.07%. This is the lowest quarterly number since the fourth quarter of 2007.

Gross lending £11.7 billion in December, says CML

Gross mortgage lending in December reached an estimated £11.7 billion, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This brings the estimated total for the year to £143 billion, up from £141 billion in 2011. In 2013, the CML forecasts gross lending will reach £156 billion.

BSA director general to step down

Adrian Coles, Director-General of the Building Societies Association, is stepping down from his post later this year after 20 years in office. A process to replace him has commenced and is expected to conclude towards the end of 2013. In the meantime Adrian will remain in post until a successor can be appointed.

CIOT: There’s always unexpected details in a Finance Bill

In amongst the 90+ measures in the draft Finance Bill are some points that many have missed. This is perhaps inevitable when there are over 1000 pages of draft legislation and explanatory notes.

CML: House purchase lending rises in third quarter despite slow September

While house purchase lending in the third quarter showed a 13% rise, monthly lending has not followed an even path during the quarter. On a monthly basis, September saw substantially lower house purchase lending than August, although remortgaging rose over the month. Following a particularly strong August, a total of 44,400 house purchase loans were advanced in September, down from 53,900 loans last month and 48,800 loans in September last year.

BSA: Mortgage lending grows again at mutuals

Gross mortgage lending by building societies and other mutual lenders was £2.5 billion in September which is up by 10% compared to the same month last year. Mutuals took a 22% market share of gross lending in September, up from 17% in September 2011, and took a 21% share of lending in the first nine months of the year.

CML: Gross mortgage lending stable in August

The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending in August was £12.6 billion. This is marginally lower (1%) than July’s gross lending figure of £12.7 billion and a 4% fall from £13.1 billion in August 2011.

Friday, 22 October 2010 00:00

Nick Clegg has declared a war of words with the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), which declared the spending review was regressive.

The thinktank, widely used by politicians as an arbiter of independent economic analysis, argued in its report on the spending review that other than the top two per cent of earners, the poorest decile would be hardest hit by George Osborne's plans.

The deputy prime minister reacted directly, accusing the IFS report of promoting a "distorted" view, focusing only on the tax and benefits side of the equation. Welfare cuts in the spending review totalled £18 billion over the course of this parliament.

Labour have piled into the debate as well, accusing Mr Clegg of being little more than a Tory cipher.

Since the spending review announcement on Wednesday, analysts have been frantically poring over the government figures, as opposition to the cuts begins to coalesce around unions and public sector organisations.

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MRSA Action UK Annual Memorial Event

Families will pay tribute and remember those lost to MRSA and healthcare associated infections at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 13th June 2013

BSIA: Information Destruction Exhibition & Conference 2013

Following the great success of the BSIA's Information Destruction Conference and Exhibition in May 2012, we are pleased to annouce that the event is returning again in June 2013. This one-day conference and exhibition is aimed at key decision makers in organisations that carry out the secure destruction of confidential material.