The number of mortgages approved for home buyers dived by 17% during January as the housing market suffered a steep fall in activity, figures show today.
Complaints about financial firms to the independent Ombudsman Service were up by 18% during the second half of last year, after many banks and other providers wrongly rejected consumer gripes.
Skipton Building Society is facing a legal challenge and growing anger over its decision to hike its standard mortgage rate by a whopping 1.45 percentage points next month.