Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksLloyds Share News (LLOY)

Share Price Information for Lloyds (LLOY)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
Share Price: 52.18
Bid: 52.26
Ask: 52.30
Change: 0.12 (0.23%)
Spread: 0.04 (0.077%)
Open: 52.38
High: 52.90
Low: 52.18
Prev. Close: 52.06
LLOY Live PriceLast checked at -

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

UPDATE 2-PM Cameron signals concern over Britain's red-hot property market

Tue, 20th May 2014 16:20

* Cameron says agrees with BoE's Carney on housing risks

* Carney: Housing market poses domestic risk to recovery

* Cameron says would consider scaling back mortgage scheme

* Property prices soaring in London (Adds Lloyds tightening lending policy in London)

By Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron onTuesday gave his strongest signal yet that Britain may need tocool its red-hot property market, saying he agreed with the Bankof England that the housing market was the biggest risk tofinancial stability.

House prices are soaring in London and have risen by a tenthover the past year in Britain as the economic recovery andrecord-low interest rates tempt purchasers back into one of theworld's most expensive property markets.

But Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned on Sundaythat the housing market posed the biggest domestic risk to thefinancial stability of Britain's $2.5 trillion economy.

"I agree with everything he said in his interview," Camerontold BBC radio. "It is absolutely right that we are alert to anydangers and problems."

Cameron also said he would consider scaling back thegovernment's 'Help to Buy' mortgage guarantee scheme if Carneyadvised such a step would be prudent.

Carney, who has repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether hesees signs of a property bubble in London, said the Britishhousing market has "deep, deep" structural problems, chief amongthem insufficient construction of new homes.

Such stark warnings from Carney and now Prime MinisterCameron indicate a growing acceptance that something needs to bedone to cool the market, especially in London where even someestate agents admit the soaring prices are unsustainable.

Hours after Cameron spoke, Lloyds Banking Group,Britain's biggest retail bank, said it was introducing toughercriteria on mortgage lending to help tackle rising prices inLondon's housing market.

The bank, which is 25 percent owned by the government, saidit would limit mortgages to a maximum of four times a borrower'sannual earnings when it is lending more than 500,000 pounds($842,400) on a property.

The bank said the policy change will affect about 8 percentof its lending in London.

HOME OWNING DREAM?

Cameron's coalition government has faced calls from theopposition Labour party to scale back its 'Help to Buy' mortgageguarantee scheme which Cameron launched last year on the eve ofthe Conservative Party conference.

When asked if the government would consider changing thescheme to reduce its upper borrowing limit, Cameron said: "Ofcourse. We will consider any changes that are proposed by MarkCarney."

'Help to Buy' allows people to buy property worth up to600,000 pounds ($1.01 million) with deposits as low as 5percent.

Carney said the BoE was checking the programme, which hesaid was targeted and relatively small though he cautioned itcould grow a lot.

Cameron said the average property price bought under Help toBuy was 160,000 pounds and that 85 percent of the purchases wereoutside London and the south-east of England.

For Conservatives, 'Help to Buy' is the successor toMargaret Thatcher's 1980's 'Right to Buy' scheme which gave theresidents of state-owned housing the right to buy their homes.

"Since the Second World War, Conservative leaders havealways believed in a property owning democracy," Cameron said."I have tried to relight the right to buy fire ... I want to seemore people buy and own their homes."

The BoE's Financial Policy Committee, whose main task is toidentify and remove risks to Britain's financial system, meetson June 17. ($1 = 0.5943 British Pounds) (Additional reporting by Belinda Goldsmith and Matt Scuffham;Editing by Andrew Heavens/Mark Heinrich)

More News
4 Jan 2024 12:56

Royal London tabling bid to buy bulk annuities from Lloyds - report

(Sharecast News) - Life insurance, pensions and investments group Royal London is in discussions to purchase Scottish Widows' bulk annuities arm, according to Sky News.

Read more
2 Jan 2024 22:01

Top-rated US companies raise over $29 billion in new-year bond supply rush

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Top-rated U.S. companies raised over $29 billion in debt on Tuesday, giving the corporate bond market a strong start to the new year, as the companies tapped demand from investors anticipating lower interest rates later this year.

Read more
20 Dec 2023 09:25

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: UBS cuts DS Smith; Kepler likes Genus

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Wednesday morning and Tuesday:

Read more
19 Dec 2023 16:06

UK banks face 'step change' rule to reimburse defrauded customers

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Britain's banks and other payment firms must reimburse defrauded customers to a maximum of 415,000 pounds ($529,000) from October next year to help combat scams, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said on Tuesday.

Read more
19 Dec 2023 15:11

UK banks face 'step change' rule to reimburse defrauded customers

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Britain's banks must reimburse defrauded customers to a maximum of 415,000 pounds ($529,000) from October next year to help combat scams, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said on Tuesday.

Read more
18 Dec 2023 10:51

Business travel emissions drop as many firms fly less -survey

LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Almost half of 217 global firms cut their business travel carbon emissions by at least 50% between 2019 and 2022, analysis published on Monday found, as corporate air travel returned at a much slower pace since the pandemic than leisure flights.

Read more
17 Dec 2023 23:01

Business travel emissions drop as many firms fly less -survey

LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Almost half of 217 global firms cut their business travel carbon emissions by at least 50% between 2019 and 2022, analysis published on Monday found, as corporate air travel returned at a much slower pace since the pandemic than leisure flights.

Read more
14 Dec 2023 12:00

Fnality completes 'world's first' blockchain payments at Bank of England

LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Fnality, a blockchain-based wholesale payments firm, said on Thursday that shareholders Lloyds Banking Group, Santander and UBS had completed the "world's first" live transactions that digitally represent funds held at a central bank.

Read more
12 Dec 2023 09:10

UK lenders face smaller impact from Basel rules than rivals, BoE says

LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Tuesday that implementing the final leg of the global Basel bank rules will increase capital requirements at UK banks by 3%, far less than for their European Union and U.S. peers.

Read more
12 Dec 2023 07:16

BoE says UK lenders to be hit less than EU, U.S. rivals by Basel capital rules

LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Tuesday that implementing the final leg of the global Basel bank rules will increase capital requirements at UK banks by 3%, less than for their European Union and U.S. peers.

Read more
8 Dec 2023 09:39

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Goldman likes Sainsbury's; RBC cuts Imperial

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Friday morning:

Read more
7 Dec 2023 10:16

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: JPMorgan lowers IAG; Exane BNP cuts Vodafone

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Thursday and Wednesday:

Read more
4 Dec 2023 13:42

Barclay family repays debt to Lloyds amid potential sale of Telegraph

(Alliance News) - The Barclay family has repaid the nearly GBP1.2 billion that it owed to Lloyds Banking Group PLC, opening up its chance to transfer control of the Telegraph newspaper to an Abu Dhabi-backed fund.

Read more
30 Nov 2023 09:57

Lloyds to shut 45 branches

(Sharecast News) - Lloyds Banking Group is to shut another 45 branches, it was confirmed on Thursday, as lenders continue to downsize their estates.

Read more
30 Nov 2023 09:18

Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland to shut another 45 branches

(Alliance News) - Lloyds Banking Group PLC is shutting another 45 branches across its network and the Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands amid the ongoing shift away from high street banking.

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.