Newcastle, the UK’s 10th biggest building society, is at an advanced stage of takeover talks with rival Skipton and if the project is through it would form a £21 billion mutual with over 1.1 million people. Skipton and Newcastle would be then be a strong financial force to reckon with. Only Britannia and Nationwide after being taken into the Co-op would be larger in terms of assets. (more…)

The UK property market is showing a confusing picture with Mortgage approvals being up in May but net mortgage lendings down by more than 30%. The Bank of England confirms that this is the more or less general trend of the UK market with each report revealing both positive and negative aspects of the property market. This has left several homeowners and investors confused as they are failing to understand the real trend of the market. However, this trend will become evident in the coming months. (more…)

Lower interest rates by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) prompted many British homeowners to pay their mortgages on time and for the first time Mortgage payments eased in the first quarter of 2009. The FSA added that compared to the last quarter of 2008 when there were only 68,000 fresh arrear cases, there were only 60,000 new arrear cases in the first three months of this year. (more…)