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Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

10 March 2010

Northern Rock shrinks losses in 2009

LONDON (Reuters) - Nationalised mortgage lender Northern Rock's headline losses shrank in 2009, helped by rising net interest income and lower loan losses in the second half, though it said loan writedowns would stay high in 2010.

09 March 2010

House price balance records surprise fall

LONDON (Reuters) - House prices grew last month at their slowest pace since August after the amount of new property coming on to the market grew faster than the number of new buyers, a survey indicated on Tuesday.

09 March 2010

Firms to maintain pace of hiring

LONDON (Reuters) - A slim majority of firms plan to keep hiring staff in the next three months, but no more than in the first quarter of 2010, suggesting they remain wary about recovery prospects, according to recruiters Manpower.

09 March 2010

MPs criticise poor performance at the Revenue

LONDON (Reuters) - The cross-party Treasury Committee launched a scathing attack on the government's revenue collecting department on Tuesday, saying low morale and poor leadership was affecting performance.

08 March 2010

Iceland seeks swift new Anglo-Dutch debt accord

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's government pledged on Sunday to restart talks and swiftly reach a new debt accord with Britain and Netherlands, a day after Icelanders crushed in a referendum the previous $5 billion (3 billion pound) "Icesave" deal.

05 March 2010

Icesave talks collapse ahead of referendum

AMSTERDAM/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Iceland walked away from talks on Friday with the Netherlands and Britain over debts related to the 2008 collapse of its banking system, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

05 March 2010

Standard Life fund arm hiring as retail flows rise

LONDON (Reuters) - British insurer Standard Life's fund arm is increasing its retail sales team by almost half on the back of increased interest in British equity funds after the 2009 stock market rally.

04 March 2010

Bank adopts "wait and see" stance

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England held fire on both interest rates and quantitative easing on Thursday as it paused to assess the impact of the massive stimulus it has already injected into the economy.

04 March 2010

House prices down 1.5 percent in February

LONDON (Reuters) - House prices unexpectedly fell 1.5 percent in February, the first drop since June last year, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday.

03 March 2010

Job market shows further improvement

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of people placed in permanent jobs rose in February at its fastest pace since July 2007 while salaries rose at the fastest pace in almost two years, a survey showed on Wednesday.

03 March 2010

Consumer confidence at two-year high

LONDON (Reuters) - Consumer confidence hit its highest in two years in February and people were their most optimistic about the coming six months since records began, a survey showed on Wednesday.

03 March 2010

Housing market among few gainers in 2009

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain was one of the few European countries to record a rise in house prices in 2009 according to a new report, giving further impetus to signs of a sustained recovery in 2010.

02 March 2010

Soft loans for home efficiency

LONDON (Reuters) - Households will be able to take out soft loans to improve the efficiency of their homes, under a new proposed law to fight climate change and cut fuel poverty, the government said on Tuesday.

02 March 2010

Advisers urge rich to hold cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The financial crisis slammed people's portfolios and shook confidence, yet one group of advisers to the very rich thinks investors should hold even more cash in their portfolios.

01 March 2010

Factory growth holds at 15-year high

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's manufacturing sector expanded faster than expected in February, matching the previous month's 15-year high rate of growth and suggesting the economic recovery may be gathering pace, figures showed on Monday.

01 March 2010

Mortgage approvals down more than expected

LONDON (Reuters) - Mortgage approvals fell slightly more than expected in January but consumer and mortgage lending picked up more than forecast, Bank of England figures showed on Monday.

01 March 2010

Manufacturing returns to growth in 2010

LONDON (Reuters) - Manufacturing output returned to growth at the start of 2010 for the first time in more than a year, but there are several threats to the sector's recovery, the Engineering Employers Federation said on Monday.

01 March 2010

House prices up 0.4 percent on the year

LONDON (Reuters) - House prices were 0.4 percent higher than a year ago in February, marking the first annual rise since March 2008, a survey showed on Monday.

26 February 2010

House prices fall 1 percent in February

LONDON (Reuters) - House prices showed a surprise 1.0 percent fall in February, ending a run of nine consecutive monthly increases, figures from the Nationwide Building Society showed on Friday.

26 February 2010

Consumer confidence up for second month

LONDON (Reuters) - The consumer mood improved for a second month in row in February, warmed by greater optimism about the health of the economy, a survey showed on Friday.

25 February 2010

Government to pay 25 percent of electric car price

LONDON (Reuters) - The government is to give up to 5,000 pounds to anyone who buys an "ultra-low carbon" car from next year and will build recharging hubs, the Department of Transport said on Thursday.

24 February 2010

Skipton to take over rival Chesham

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's fourth-largest building society Skipton is set to take over loss-making rival Chesham, it said on Wednesday, in fresh evidence of consolidation in the mutual sector as larger players gobble up crisis-hit rivals.

24 February 2010

Guarantee on Northern Rock deposits lifted

LONDON (Reuters) - The Treasury has lifted its guarantee protecting retail deposits with nationalised Northern Rock, a decision that marks a milestone in the bank's turnaround and draws a line under its troubles as it is prepared for sale.

23 February 2010

FSA to return cash in share fraud scam

LONDON (Reuters) - Victims of a share fraud scam will be handed back 270,000 pounds by the Financial Services Authority as part of an investigation into how cold-calls from overseas persuaded citizens to invest in worthless shares.

23 February 2010

Cost of having a child now over 200,000 pounds

LONDON (Reuters) - The cost of raising a child in Britain has surpassed 200,000 pounds for the first time, an annual survey has found, with state education and childcare posing the biggest headaches.