U.K. Home Loans Rose 4% in February From January
The number of People taking mortgages has gone up by 4%, February figures showed.
A total of 24,300 loans for house purchase during the month, up from 23,400 in January, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said .
however there's still very little activity compare to historical standards, with mortgages taken out by people buying a home running at only around a third of the average total for February of 76,000 seen between 2002 and 2007.
There was also a rise in the number of first-time buyers getting on to the property ladder, with 9,400 mortgages taken out by people buying their first home during the month - 7% more than in January.
as a first sign of coming out of this slow market
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Mortgage firm hit with massive fine
The Financial Services Authority ( FSA ) continued its campaign of tackling irregular practices throughout the UK’s financial services by imposing a serious financial penalty on a mortgage firm.
GE Money Home Lending, the UK’s 14th largest mortgage firm during 2007, was on the wrong end of a hefty £1.12 million fine for failings in its dealings with nearly 700 customers. It was reported that borrowers had lost a total of £2.3 million.
The FSA said that the mortgage firm had failed to respond adequately to failures which the company itself had identified around two years previously. The fact that customers ,who had lost an average of £3,000 each, were potentially placed in a position where they could also suffer from an adverse credit profile, warranted corrective action.
In the past few months the industry watchdog appears to have ramped up its efforts to ensure that customers are getting a fair deal from finance providers and is sending a clear signal that firms in the sector must clean up their act.
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