Loan News

• New Growth in Loans Market - Loans in all shapes and sizes have seen a sharp rise growth in the market, with secured loans seeing the biggest growth over the last 5 years; it has left the other two, unsecured loans and remortgaging, lagging behind even though to be fair to them they have been pretty successful in the same period also
• Poor credit mortgages: Not all bad - The days when having a poor credit rating meant being unable to get that dream mortgage appear to well and truly over. The mortgage market is always changing and evolving, and usually for the better.
• Summer Wedding Loans - Now that we’re into July and summer proper, wedding season is upon us. Getting married during the summer months is popular for a variety of reasons, not least because the chances of good weather are higher.
• Provident under pressure due to sky-high interest charges - Controversial doorstep lender Provident Financial will be challenged to justify their extortionate interest rates this week, as thousands of its borrowers who have unsecured loans through them, are paying rates ranging from 170% to 500%.
• Variable Loan Costs - We all know that there are a wide variety of different personal loan providers out there, all offering different deals and incentives for choosing them. In fact we’re constantly bombarded with advertising to this effect in the media and from our banks and building societies.
• Kitchen Loans - Unsurprisingly a great many of the unsecured personal loans taken out in the UK go towards home improvements, to raise the value of your property and make your living space a more comfortable and inviting one. Many people will chose to upgrade their kitchen; again this is one of the home improvements that will add a fair amount to the value of your property.
• Shop Around For Personal Loans - When you decide to take out a personal loan, one of your first thoughts may be to get some advice on the best way to get a good deal and one of the most oft repeated pieces of advice is likely to be ‘shop around’, this ensures you get a good deal and know exactly what different types of loans and offers from loan companies are available.
• Popular Personal Loans - Personal Finance and Savings magazine’s top ten has certainly highlighted the impact of building societies and other non-traditional loans companies apart from the major banks on the loans market
• Criticism for Banks offering unaffordable loans - Banks who offer large loans to debt-ridden consumers were condemned as “irresponsible” yesterday after an investigation revealed staff at Lloyds TSB encouraged customers to accept loans they were unable to repay.
• Pick A Loan Up With Your Groceries - With reports of their milestone £2bn-plus profits, Tesco have been dominating the news recently. It is estimated that in the retail sector £1 in every eight goes through Tesco’s tills. But it’s not solely groceries that consumers are filling their trolleys with at the nations favourite supermarket
• Personal Loans for your Big Day - It’s well known that weddings are both costly and stressful taking an awful lot of planning in order to make the wedding day perfect.
• Cheap Loan Deals - With all the advertisements and information available on the Internet and television regarding personal finance there is an implication that great savings can be found by shopping around for credit cards, cheap personal loans, insurance and mortgage deals
• UK Demand for Personal Loans Increase - The British Bankers Association has recently revealed that demand for personal loans increased substantially in January and spending on credit cards was higher in December than the previous six months
• Personal Loan Rates Continue to Fall - With interest rates rising three times in the last year and set to rise again in the near future many consumers may be worried about the cost of personal finance
• UK Interest Rate Rises of the Previous Year - The 5 interest rate rises that have incurred in the last 15 months, have now taken effect on the amount of new mortgages approved in the UK in that time. Down by 9000 in November 2004 from 8500 in the month of October, it is being said that these rises have gone a long way

Poor Credit Loans

• Fighting Finance for the Poor - Have you ever applied for a loan and credit card and been told that you are told that you have failed with your application, meaning really that you are to much of a risk to the company or bank that you applied to.

Online Loans

• Internet Shopping For Loans - If your browsing the net for personal finance news your already probably fairly web savvy, however new reports indicate that not everyone is, but the benefits that can be obtained by doing so means it might be worthwhile to start. Halifax has found that single men are the group most likely to apply for an unsecured personal loan online..
• The Power of Direct Lending - Did you know that in the last month or so that you could go online to a Lending and Borrowing exchange?

Home Loan News

• Home Improvement Personal Loans - Recent research by HSBC that the third most popular reason for taking out an unsecured personal loan is home improvements has hit the nail on the head according to B&Q.
• Home Start Up Costs - Buying your first home can be a costly business with consumers taking out what is probably the biggest loan so far in their lives with their mortgages. Add to that solicitor’s fees, a deposit and survey costs and the money really starts to mount up.
• Rate cut is lifeline for borrowers - While homeowners may have welcomed last week’s 0.25% cut in basic rates, lenders appear to be less enthusiastic.
• Encouraging House Market News - This July has had the lowest level of decline in approved mortgage loans, since they started to fall over the last year, the British Bankers Association has said and that they see the British housing market as the gauge on which the public are spending their cash.
• House Prices Fall in June - House prices in the UK have fallen in the month of June, which is now the second such drop in the last four months, the findings have been released by the Nationwide Building Society

Debt Consolidation

• Rise in personal loans due to debt consolidation - The main reason for taking out a personal loan this year, according to Sainsbury’s Bank, will be debt consolidation. Approximately one in three loans taken out this year will be for this reason, the bank reports
• Yes Continues to Grow
  Financial service firm Yes, has become on of the fastest growing firms in Wales and has doubled it’s turnover for the third year in a row, which has led to the company establishing it’s self as one of the leading providers of secured loans and mainly deal in the debt consolidation and home improvements.

Loan Charges

• Banks earn massive profits through ‘customer protection’
  A damning new report from the investment bank Morgan Stanley has revealed the full extent of the huge profits being made by banks through the sale of payment protection insurance (PPI).
• Loan Protection
  One in 25 people have cover for household bills and the number seems to be just as worryingly small for credit cards and personal or car loans.

• What is The Best Car Finance?
  Buying a new car with personal finance is always popular; for one thing it allows consumers to get a better quality vehicle, which should save money in insurance and repairs. It will be especially popular this month as the new number plates come out and many consumers use this as an ideal opportunity to buy a new car or upgrade to a better model.
• Car Loans - Shopping for a Better Deal
  With the new 2005 registration coming into force this month many consumers will be looking for a great car loan to finance that new car.

• Student Loans and Student Debt
  Student finance has been changing dramatically in recent years, with the introduction of fees and abolition of student grants. Student grants and student funding has been replaced with student loans, loans organised by the Student Loan Company specifically for students and paid back when you’re earning enough to cover the repayments

General Topics

• Credit Applications Begin To Fall
  I wish the Bank of England would tell my wife personally, what they are telling us, which is that the shoppers in this country (apart from my wife that is) are spending less on their credit cards, than they have been doing and are gong for different forms of borrowing to get what they require.