Owner: Making Sense of Personal Finance URL:http://www.christopherray.co.uk Join Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:12:12 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: News and views about personal finance as it affects consumers in the UK. Site statistics:Click here
Crack down on self certification mortgages 2007-09-25 16:04:39 Self certification mortgages sound a great idea. Tell the mortgage company that you are earning more than you actually are and you have access to bigger mortgages, even though the monthly payments may be close, or even exceed monthly take home pay.
Much of the buy to let market is fuelled by self certification mortgages [...]
The Toyota Prius - why I won’t buy one 2007-09-24 08:45:48 I know that the title of this post sounds bad - after all we should all do our bit for the environment and I do care about my own carbon footprint.
There are many environmental benefits to hybrid cars, and we published an article about some of the ways in which the ToyotaPrius
can reduce [...]
Car Finance: “if it appreciates - buy it. If depreciates - rent it” 2007-10-03 12:22:24 I’m getting closer to replacing our family car.
I’ve recently written a post about the Ford Mondeo (terrible depreciation) and the Toyota Prius (costly for what it is, despite its green credentials), however I decided to speak to a few car finance companies today to gets some quotes.
There are some good finance deals around [...] Read more:Car Finance
Who wants to be a buy to let investor? 2007-10-02 12:04:25 A block of 24 quality flats is being built two minutes walk from the main line station in our town. Most of the building work is nearly completed and the inevitable estate agents hoarding is displayed to sell as many of the flats “off plan” as possible.
At this stage of the development you’d expect [...] Read more:wants
New Ford Mondeo - good car but terrible depreciation 2007-10-01 09:04:25 As I’m looking to change our car at the moment, I’ve been trying out a few cars such as the Toyota Prius, Ford S-Max and the new Ford Mondeo
.
The Prius, as good as it is, seems too expensive for the hybrid technology at the moment. The S-Max, which seemed to tick all the boxes [...] Read more:good car
Home information packs are forcing people to think about energy efficiency 2007-10-15 07:56:58 Home informationpacks
(HIP’s) are still not being seen by house sellers and buyers as adding any value to the sales process, however it does seem that they are forcing people
to think
about improving the energy efficiency of their home.
I must admit that when I was insulating our loft, it did occur to me [...]
Buy to let mortgages are still going strong 2007-10-12 17:11:01 I was a bit surprised to learn today that buy to let mortgages are still one of the most buoyant sectors of the mortgage market.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), lending for house purchases and remortgages fell by 11 percent during the last year, however loans for buy to let investments actually increased [...]
Gloomy news about house prices 2007-10-11 15:42:06 House prices actually fell in September, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
It’s interesting to see that not only did the number of people looking to buy a house drop, but that the number of people looking to sell decreased too.
So the housing market is slowing down - no doubt [...]
The secret that can save you thousands of pounds when buying a new car 2007-10-10 15:52:36 Buying a car is an expensive business so it really pays to take the time to find the best deals. Although it took me one and a half days of negotiations with a number of different suppliers, I have found a deal on a new car that will save me thousands of pounds over [...]
A credit card trick banks use to increase their charges 2007-10-09 10:42:24 I mentioned a few weeks ago that you should be wary of hidden credit
card charges that banks
can spring on you. Well, today another trick that bank use to increase the charges of their credit cards has come to light.
Credit card companies are using an “order of payment” to increase their charges. [...]
Partners are arguing over heating costs 2007-10-08 13:09:33 It seems that the thermostat is harming domestic bliss, according to a new survey by MoneySupermarket.com.
Apparently 11 percent of couples argue about turning the heating up. Men, it appears are more resilient to the cold and are more likely to give their partner a hard time when they want to warm up the house [...] Read more:Partners
Diesel now costs more than £1 per litre in the UK 2007-10-05 13:38:28 One of the most popular articles on MoneyHighStreet.com is that petrol may soon cost £5 per gallon. Well it certainly took a lurch towards that disconcerting figure this week.
For the first time, I saw diesel being sold at £1.02 per litre
today.
With 4.55 litres to the gallon, this brings the cost of diesel to [...]
Interest rates held at 5.75 percent, but house prices slow down 2007-10-04 10:18:12 Interest rates were held at 5.75 percent today by the Bank of England, which is welcome news for mortgage owners. As this was the first opportunity for the Bank of England (BoE) to change the base rates since the Northern Rock problems, it seems that the Bank wants to assess the impact of the [...] Read more:Interest
House prices may fall according to the IMF 2007-10-18 12:13:14 House prices in the UK could tumble, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They predict that the fall in property values could be as savage as those occurring in the USA.
One major house building company in the USA has seen half its house sales cancelled as buyers flee the market, or are [...] Read more:House
Conservatives to scrap Home Information Packs 2007-10-16 12:34:26 The Conservative party will scrap the unpopular Home Improvement Packs (Hips) scheme if they are elected at the next election.
In fact they are so determined to reverse this scheme that Grant Shapps MP, the Shadow Housing Minister, is already preparing the Civil Service and existing HIPs businesses for the abolition of Home information packs, if [...] Read more:Conservatives
Pensions - the government proposes more damaging changes 2007-10-23 14:58:07 Sometimes I wonder what the UK Government have against pensions. It is not very long since Gordon Brown raided the pensions piggy bank in a move that is estimated to cost UK pensioners £100 billion.
Now it seems the Government is interfering with pensions again. They are considering reducing the amount that an employer [...] Read more:changes
Debt consolidation loan pitfalls 2007-10-26 16:44:21 I wrote about some of the benefits of debt consolidation loans yesterday and promised the follow up on some the reasons why you should think carefully before taking out a secured loan to resolve debt problems. Well here it is!
A quick recap. A debt consolidation loan is a single loan, mostly secured against [...]
Debt consolidation loans - why they can be a good idea 2007-10-25 16:27:58 Working in the finance industry I see at first hand the reasons why people want to borrow money, particularly if it is not for arranging mortgages for property purchases.
It’s striking to see that debt consolidation is the most frequent reason that people arrange secured loans - in which they use the equity in their homes [...]
Do you want to buy a house now? 2007-10-29 18:14:39 Today wasn’t a good day for the UK property market.
We hear from the prediction from Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) that there will be less mortgage products available in 2008, particularly for the sub prime sector.
We also hear that the number of mortgage approvals fell by 20% in September with the CML making further dire [...]
Recommend Site To A Friend
