December 2011 Blog Posts (10)

Did you overspend on your credit card this Christmas? Is the New Year bank balance filling you with dread? Don’t panic! Here are my survival tips for 2012.

1. Don’t ignore the post and leave your bank or credit card statements unopened. The last thing you should do is bury your head in the sand and ignore your finances.
2. If you are having trouble…

Mortgage Market Review

You will have read over recent days about something called the MMR ( Mortgage Market Review) which is the FSA’s attempt , before they disappear into the sunset, at preventing a return of the risky mortgage lending seen in boom times, by ensuring that common sense standards continue to apply in future.

Below is a summary of the…

We wish all 793 (as of today) Members of our NiS community a very relaxing and enjoyable Christmas and New Year break.

Not surprisingly, you won’t find many featured EVENTS on NiS in the run up to the holiday weekend – but most of the…

Buying property is now more cost-effective than it has ever been compared to renting, proving cheaper in 47 out of 50 British towns, compared to 40 out of 50 this time last year, according to research.

A study showed that renting is 15% more expensive on average than owning across the country, up from a 10% premium last year.

It examined the prices and rents of 78,000…

The outcry emanating from Westminster and other bastions of economic responsibility might lead the taxpaying citizen to think that sponsorship and event marketing is ineffective or even worse—wasteful . But as a fellow taxpayer, and as someone who has earned a living consulting with companies on how to "drive their business through sport," I can assure you that sponsorship and event marketing are not approached recklessly. The fact is, when properly planned,…

A proposed EU Directive threatens to severely damage the private rented housing sector according to one of the largest landlord bodies, report the RLA.

The draft directive is aimed at tackling irresponsible lending on mortgages following property booms and busts in countries such as Spain and Ireland Under its provisions, when assessing the ability of the applicant to afford mortgage repayments, lenders will not be able to…

The government recently announced its backing of a mortgage indemnity scheme that will allow higher loan to value lending for buyers of new build properties.

The full details of the scheme won’t be finalised until the spring, but we have compared the new scheme with Firstbuy, the government backed shared equity scheme announced in this year’s Budget.

We…

Hi,

After thinking about it for ages, I have decided to create a family tree.  I have some initial information, but I want to go back further.  

I have looked at numerous websites but they seem quite expensive, I only want the basic information not the certificates etc.  Has anyone else created a family tree? and what would you recommend?  My surname is Spencer and my…

The Bank of England has said that mortgage interest rates could increase next year, as lenders pass on the increased costs of wholesale funding.

Its Financial Stability Report, published today, said that, since 2009, the profitability of new mortgage lending has reduced, because lenders have failed to keep rates in line with higher wholesale funding and other costs.

With…