Remortgaging

Increased competition among banks and the end of many fixed-rate deals has led to a rise in demand for mortgages over the past 12 months, a new survey shows.

If you’ve recently applied for credit card, loan, or mortgage, and been rejected, it can be a frustrating experience. Understanding why it has happened could improve your chances of being approved in the future, and it could also make you think again about whether borrowing money is right for you.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets monthly to decide whether to raise or lower the base interest rate, which in turn affects mortgage rates and your monthly repayments. Over the last year, the MPC has been priming homeowners to be prepared for an interest rate rise.

The Bank of England has increased the base interest rate from 0.5% to 0.75%. This is only the second time that the base rate has been raised since the global financial crisis a decade ago. This base rate increase will impact almost every aspect of your personal finances, from the cost of your mortgage, to the interest gained on your savings, to your credit card APR.

The Lifetime ISA was introduced in April 2017 as a new type of tax-free savings and investment account to help you buy your first home and save for retirement.

There are many ways of measuring your financial health. Credit scores and savings milestones and investment portfolios all work together to complete a portrait of your financial aptitude. But there’s another factor you should consider, too: net worth.

The UK’s nine high street banks are now required to support open banking – a new set of technologies that make it easy for you to access and share your financial information and bank transaction history (i.e. every payment in and out of your account).

The government has proposed the introduction of a three-year minimum lease for property rentals, to protect renters from being evicted at short notice by landlords. According to government data, people stay in their rented homes for almost four years – but 81% of rental contracts last for just six to 12 months.

Millennials are struggling to follow in their parents’ home ownership footsteps, according to new research from the Resolution Foundation.

People living in urban areas are less satisfied with their overall financial position, are more likely to use high-cost loans and, on average, have more unsecured debt, an authoritative new study has shown.