My Savings Are In The Halifax ......

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

DSLiverpool

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 9, 2007
Messages
1,556
Location
Wirral
Car
Subaru Outback 3.0Rn
Ah well its gone on long enough, i cant just watch the city kill the HBOS takeover and hope all ends up ok i feel it must ship some out.

Im thinking of making a short term directors loan to my own company (Nat West) unless any enlightened souls here know anything about the Nat West to prohibit this ?

Dave
 
Ah well its gone on long enough, i cant just watch the city kill the HBOS takeover and hope all ends up ok i feel it must ship some out.

Im thinking of making a short term directors loan to my own company (Nat West) unless any enlightened souls here know anything about the Nat West to prohibit this ?

Dave

If it's a largeish sum, why not invest it in a few cheap properties? This is a great time to negotiate ;-)
 
I've been thinking about that but I suspect there's a bit more unravelling to happen yet.
 
Ah well its gone on long enough, i cant just watch the city kill the HBOS takeover and hope all ends up ok i feel it must ship some out.

Im thinking of making a short term directors loan to my own company (Nat West) unless any enlightened souls here know anything about the Nat West to prohibit this ?

Dave

RBS (natwest owner) have halved in value but the market doesn't seem to think they are quite the basket case that is HBOS. You're taking a punt on any bank at the moment - I just view it as an environmental risk. For my work I am busy ensuring that I don't have more than $40m with any one institution, to spread the risk. But the big clue is in what banks are charging each other. I recently got 7.35% on overnight treasury deposit (on US$40m:cool: ) when US Treasury bonds (i.e. deposit the money with the US government) were paying 0.85%. So the banks were charging each other a 650bp premium:eek: which kind of indicates they don't have much faith in each other at the moment.
 
My mortgage is with the Halifax , should i be worried ?

I'm a simple guy :)
 
Is that good or bad ?

I'm a simple guy :)
 
Is that good or bad ?

I'm a simple guy :)

Well, if you've no issue with repayments then its as good as the interest rate - i.e move it somewhere else if its cheaper somewhere else.

If you're a bit on the dodgy side, then i'd be pleased to have a mortgage with the government - imagine the press if the government starts repossessing distressed householders , or even "families" !

After all, you have their money rather than them having your money

R
 
It's not a struggle to pay the mortgage , but it takes a significant part of our monthly salaries.

We are still in the 2 year 'happy period' where we track at .44 above BOE base.

Can't remember what it goes up to after the period ends though off the top of my head.

So if the government were to own it , would it stay at .44 above , or would it still rise when the period is up ?

How would you renegotiate ? we do this every time the fixed period ends , and have stayed with the Halifax in the past because it is easier and less fees .

I really struggle to get my head round all this financial stuff , i guess that's why i open gates for a living :eek:
 
We are still in the 2 year 'happy period' where we track at .44 above BOE base.

...

So if the government were to own it , would it stay at .44 above , or would it still rise when the period is up ?

It will do exactly what it says in your contract with the mortgage provider - i.e it will go up at the end of the 2 years.

How would you renegotiate ? we do this every time the fixed period ends , and have stayed with the Halifax in the past because it is easier and less fees .

You ask the mortgage company if they have any better rates / fixes, and you ask a mortgage broker to find you a better mortgage and see what comes out best.

You do need to (now!) go and look at when the .44 above base rate tracker finishes - you will find it then probably reverts to the mortgage companies 'standard variable rate' which will be significantly more - and plan for that (please).
Remember this rule: If you are currently on 5% and it goes up to 6% your mortgage payments go up 20%


Richard
 
I've been thinking about that but I suspect there's a bit more unravelling to happen yet.

I am very reliably informed by a partner in a major city accountancy firm (they have been retained to act as the receivers for it!) that there is another financial institution on the brink of collapse/takeover. He hasnt named it yet though......

If you want safe havens for your money, try the government fixed bonds on a 2yr or 5yr term. 100% guaranteed net of tax at something like 3%. You wont get that return from bricks and mortar at the moment;-)

You can invest upto £93,600 tax free!
 
If you want safe havens for your money, try the government fixed bonds on a 2yr or 5yr term. 100% guaranteed net of tax at something like 3%. You wont get that return from bricks and mortar at the moment;-)

Agreed - but don't forget the government has borrowed the hell out of the economy and is likely to continue to do so. These good guaranteed returns (albeit still at below inflation rates) will be therefore paid for out of increased taxes in the future. So you could view them as just getting a little of your own money back:D

We're getting close to the position where teh optimal strategy will be swiss francs in banknotes stuffed in your mattress....
 
I am very reliably informed by a partner in a major city accountancy firm (they have been retained to act as the receivers for it!) that there is another financial institution on the brink of collapse/takeover. He hasnt named it yet though......

Heard similar from a friendly actuary in New York.....
 
I
So if the government were to own it , would it stay at .44 above , or would it still rise when the period is up ?

How would you renegotiate ? we do this every time the fixed period ends , and have stayed with the Halifax in the past because it is easier and less fees

Your mortgage gets passed on to a new institution. If it's fixed or on some contracted rate then that should continue - so no change for the term of that fix/rate.

If that new institution is the gov then they probably won't make their variable rate that attractive. (But it won't be too outrageous either - they can't really screw you over too much). They'll want to encourage you to move on to another mortgage with another bank.

So I wouldn't worry over much.
 
Heard similar from a friendly actuary in New York.....

The joy of rumours (or if across the pond: rumors).

I think everybody is saying this sort of thing.

A couple of weeks ago Lloyds TSB was very strong and could easily take on HBOS. Now people aren't so sure.

RBS was supposed to be strong, then not so strong, and then strong again.

It depends which part of the balance sheet is being used to do the analysis. And who needs liquidity right now. And what's happening to the shareprice.
 
All advice is gratefully received.

I am on this fixed rate of .44 until November next year (09) , i owe £122k and have this on a repayment mortgage which currently costs £860 a month.

When we bought our flat it was valued at £182k , we had £50k deposit and took out a mortgage for £132k , we have paid off £10k of that according to my statement this year , so currently at £122k.

It has an early redemption penalty until next November ( 09 ) so i can't change it before then anyway , do you think i am worrying a bit prematurely , because it's over a year away before i can do anything ?

Once again many thanks indeed

H
 
It has an early redemption penalty until next November ( 09 ) so i can't change it before then anyway , do you think i am worrying a bit prematurely , because it's over a year away before i can do anything ?

I don't think there's any reason to worry.

You're fine till Nov 09 and no matter what you would be looking at changing mortgage - even if staying with the same bank. The only difference is that as Nov 09 approaches you might find yourself having to think harder about alternatives if you need to change to another institution - and there would be a more complex cost calculation regarding fees etc.

However assuming property values don't collapse too much you'd probably be a reasonably attractive proposition to a new bank. If they do collapse then you end up sitting tight.

Your biggest risk is actually interest rates. If demand for credit gets really tight then interest rates could go up. We've been sitting in an interest rate lull for about 15 years. So it would be prudent to make sure that you plan to have enough savings or spare excess income to cover an increase in your mortgage payments for a period of a year or more - just in case.
 
All advice is gratefully received.

I am on this fixed rate of .44 until November next year (09) , i owe £122k and have this on a repayment mortgage which currently costs £860 a month.

When we bought our flat it was valued at £182k , we had £50k deposit and took out a mortgage for £132k , we have paid off £10k of that according to my statement this year , so currently at £122k.

It has an early redemption penalty until next November ( 09 ) so i can't change it before then anyway , do you think i am worrying a bit prematurely , because it's over a year away before i can do anything ?

Once again many thanks indeed

H

these are just my thoughts as I am not a mortgage specialist but you may swap your mortgage deal at any time. You just neet to take into account early redemption fee and potential savings you may make. and balance them.
for instance your fee is £2500 but you may be making £4000 savings over some time due to lower rate

My mortgage provided has been nationalised last year and nothing happened. They just sent letters not to panic and that's it
cheers
 
Yep, me too. I have a government mortgage (NR) on the SVR and I'm quite happy with it. As long as it's affordable then why worry? As it goes, NR have been criticised recently for offering some half decent deals again and the powers at the FSA think this might be construed as leveraging their very secure (government backed) position to gain a larger share of the mortgage market. Who cares as long as it's good news for the consumer.....:)
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom