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UK mortgage approvals up 81.4% in Aug

Posted on 24 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

But consumer credit and demand for re-mortgaging remains subdued

British banks approved 81.4 per cent more home purchase loans in August than the same month a year ago but consumer credit and demand for re-mortgaging remained subdued, a survey showed yesterday.

The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) said that 38,095 mortgage applications were approved last month.

That was similar to the 38,186 approved in July but significantly higher than August 2008 when activity in the housing market had almost ground to a halt.

The figures chime with other surveys showing that record low interest rates have helped stabilise Britain’s housing market after sharp price declines last year.

However, BBA director of statistics David Dooks noted that the big banks had picked up market share from smaller lenders and the broader picture may not be so robust.

‘The main high street banks’ mortgage lending has stabilised in a market where other lenders are largely inactive,’ he said. Continue reading →

Comments Off on UK mortgage approvals up 81.4% in Aug

Posted in Overseas Property

Tagged UK Property, UK Property Loan, UK Property Market

Savoy makeover adds to London hotels’ woes

Posted on 24 Sep 2009 | Comments Off

The Savoy, the 121-year-old London hotel that has hosted Elizabeth Taylor and Claude Monet, may add to strains on the city’s luxury guesthouses when it reopens next April following British hospitality’s most expensive renovation.

After last year’s collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc sparked a slump in business travel, the belated and overbudget completion of the Savoy’s makeover will dump 268 luxury rooms into a market suffering a dearth of bankers and corporate guests.

Even with the Savoy shut, revenue at London’s upscale hotels this year has declined the most since the Sars outbreak in 2003, according to STR Global, which tracks the industry.

‘Luxury properties are going to feel it when the Savoy opens,’ said STR Global analyst Konstanze Auernheimer on Tuesday. ‘In these market conditions, when it is already tough for everyone, it has been a blessing for rivals to have it out of action.’

Savoy manager Kiaran Macdonald said he’s counting on an economic recovery by the time the property reopens, almost a year later than planned.

The delays to restoration work meant the hotel missed the worst of the market’s decline, although the final cost to owner Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will be ‘a lot higher’ than £120 million (S$277 million), Mr Macdonald said, compared with an original budget of £100 million. Continue reading →