Northern Rock forced to withdraw £99 mortgage fee
A recent promise by Northern Rock to introduce a reduced mortgage fee from yesterday has been withdrawn in the short term due to "technical difficulties". The company recently announced that the previous £250 fee would be reduced to £99 in an attempt to attract more business to the government, and taxpayer, owned operation.
While those who have applied for mortgages this week will be charged the £250 rate they will receive a rebate of £151 once the system difficulties have been resolved. It is thought that the reduced fee will attract significant interest in the UK mortgage arena at a time when Northern Rock needs to attract as much new business as possible. The company still owes UK taxpayers tens of billions of pounds and it will take some time for this to be repaid.
The demise of Northern Rock was seen by many as the first step in the collapse, or near collapse, of the UK banking arena. The very fact that a UK bank institution was virtually on the verge of collapse surprised and shocked many consumers leading to "a run on UK banks". Inevitably the government had to step in and commit billions upon billions of pounds of taxpayer's money to support the system.
Share this..
Related stories
Getting The Abbey Habit
Many in the housing market are breathing a sigh of relief today with news that yet another of the UK’s leading mortgage providers has decided to reduce rates. Hot on the heels of the Nationwide, Abbey has announced that they are cutting their tracker rates by0.05% with new borrowers able to put down a 25% deposit receiving an additional discount. While the changes are not massiv...
Read MoreWho will follow the Skipton's move?
News that the Skipton Building Society has activated a relatively unknown get out clause in mortgage arrangements put in place since 2002 has caught the market by surprise. The decision to effectively rewrite all mortgage arrangements on the standard variable rate since 2002 will see the rate rise from 3.5% to 4.95%. But who will be next to follow? Now that the Skipton Building Society has effe...
Read MoreIs it fair to penalise the self-employed and ban self certified mortgages?
Over the last few months there has been a concerted campaign to rid the UK mortgage market of so-called "liar's loans" which are in effect self certified mortgages. These are mortgages taken out predominately by the self-employed, who may have income which is difficult to predict. In simple terms they effectively self certify a mortgage agreement by guaranteeing that the income information which t...
Read MoreAbbey Is Now The Leading Mortgage Provider In The UK
While many of the UK's main mortgage providers continue to suffer, in relative terms it is Abbey which is proving to be the star of the show. Assisted by the substantial backing of parent company Santander the UK giant has forged ahead to take number one spot in the new mortgage market with a 26% share. The move has seen the group take over from HBOS at the top of the table as rumours continue t...
Read MoreFixed-rate loan popularity 'soars'
A record number of first-time buyers are taking out fixed-rate mortgages due to interest rate rise fears, new research says.The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says that nine out of ten new homeowners chose fixed-rate loans in February, beating the record set a month previously.Interest rates currently stand at 5.25 per cent, with the Bank of England voting to hold base rates in February, March...
Read More