Nationwide building society halts mortgage tracker rate cuts
In contradiction to hopes from the UK government it has been revealed that the Nationwide building society will not be passing on further rate cut savings to the company's mortgage tracker customers. This is a serious blow to both the UK property sector and the government who had pinned their hopes on further assistance from the banking sector. The problem the government now has is that further reductions in base rates will directly increase profit margins for the financial sector and leave consumers and homeowners in the cold.
This is not the first time that the Nationwide building society has attempted to take on the UK government but the announcement came as a surprise to many. There had been hopes that 2009 would see a softening of the difficult relationship between the government and the banking sector but this appears to be a forlorn hope.
The new concern is that because the Nationwide has refused to pass on further rate cuts to customers this will force many competitors to follow suit. While it may well lead to a stabilisation of the UK financial sector it will very much be to the detriment of the UK population as a whole.
Share this..
Related stories
Nationwide announces reduction in mortgage rates
While the headlines would appear to be excellent news for homebuyers in the UK, the announcement that Nationwide will as of tomorrow reduce mortgage rates by up to 0.5% is perhaps not as relevant as you may think. While there is no doubt that rates will fall tomorrow, with a four year fixed mortgage rate set to come in at 5.08% against 5.58% today, there are certain criteria which need to be adher...
Read MoreAre you shopping online?
All of the headlines in the retail industry over the last few weeks have centred upon the latest retail craze which has seen online shopping expenditure balloon over the last few weeks. Indeed many sales are announced online before they are announced off-line with many bargains are appearing on a daily basis. But have you caught the online shopping bug? While there is no doubt the online shoppi...
Read MoreLondon business property market booming
Shaftesbury Group, the prominent UK property operation, last week revealed business in the West End of London was especially brisk over the Christmas and New Year period. The company has announced a significant increase in new tenant agreements approved at rates at or above recent property values for the company's various assets. So what does this mean for the UK property market in general? As...
Read MoreBSkyB agrees to sell part of ITV stake
After a very expensive two-year legal battle BSkyB has finally agreed to sell around 10% of the company's near 18% stake in ITV. The situation can be traced back to the Competition Commission ruling back in 2008 which concluded that BSkyB could have undue influence over ITV it was able to maintain its 17.9% stake. The overall state stake is now running at a loss of £330 million and has been nothi...
Read MoreInterest rate 'will be cut'
The Bank of England will reduce the base rate of interest to 3.25 percent by the end of next year.According to Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight, the cuts will come as the bank attempts to stimulate economic growth.This is because reducing interest rates generally makes loan repayments cheaper - and, therefore, encouraging consumers to spend more on goods and services.Currently, the...
Read More