It may be we will wish, instead of nudging the actors in the chain, government had seized control

The Spanish-owned bank Santander was accused of "profiteering" last night after it sneaked out a huge mortgage rate hike in letters to customers.

Bank accused of 'profiteering' following 12 per cent rise in home loan payments

Thousands of Santander customers were facing a hike in mortgage costs today after the lender increased its standard variable rate by half a per cent.

The choice of mortgages for people with a 10% deposit has shrunk by almost a quarter in six months, while the number of deals for borrowers with a 5% deposit has nearly halved, research found today.

Belize is offering bondholders just 20 cents in the dollar in an attempted debt restructuring which is on even worse terms than Argentina's after it defaulted in 2001.

The mortgage market has continued to “see-saw” this summer after new figures showed an 8% rise in lending between June and July.

Rant

The deal

A five-year mortgage deal which had a record low rate when it was launched a month ago was withdrawn from sale today.

Kelner's view

Rents soared to a new high last month, with “fierce competition” from frustrated would-be home buyers continuing as the market enters its summer peak, a study said today.

The cost of buying a home in England has rocketed by more than three times the rate of the average salary in the space of a decade, a study found today.

A major building society has reported that its first-time buyer mortgage approvals increased by almost a third in the first half of 2012.