UK banks show a lack of faith in the housing market
With unemployment likely to worsen, making it harder for people to pay their bonds, home loan providers are cranking up their rates
In any league table of institutions with the keenest view of what’s happening in a local economy, banks should be ahead of the pack. So the fact British lenders are starting to exhibit a lack of faith in the UK housing market is a worrying barometer of how fragile the economic outlook is becoming.
Fault lines are widening. Figures published on Tuesday showed the pandemic has already wiped out almost 700,000 jobs. Some 2.7-million Britons are claiming jobless benefits, an increase of 121% since March. And escalating tension with the EU over Brexit has increased the chances of the UK leaving the bloc without a trade deal, posing the danger of a chaotic change in the rules governing the relationship with Britain’s biggest export market for businesses already trying to cope with the repercussions of the coronavirus. ..
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