Mortgage lending showed a slight rebound in April, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
Some 50,700 loans to purchase homes were granted in April, a rise of 5,000 from the previous month and the highest level since December.
But the number was still 36% down compared with the same month in 2007 because of the credit crunch.
An average first-time buyer put down a deposit of 13% of a property’s value and borrowed 3.3 times their income.
The pair have been charged with money laundering, mail fraud and securities fraud, US officials said.
If found guilty, they could face up to 25 years in prison and a fine. They are due to appear in a Florida court later.
The BBC’s Andy Gallacher, in Miami, says it is thought the Gunters hijacked the identities of the dormant, publicly traded companies and used high-pressure sales techniques to sell worthless shares to British investors.
They are believed to have started the alleged scam in early 2005, US investigators said.
Deputy chief inspector Robert Wishart, head of the money laundering unit at City of London Police, said the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into a “mass-marketing crime scam known as boiler room fraud”. Read more »
• Cigarettes up 11p a packet of 20 from 1800 GMT; five cigars up 4p.
• Beer up by 4p a pint, wine 14p a bottle, spirits 55p a bottle and cider 3p a litre by Sunday.
• Duties on alcohol will go up by 2% above inflation in each of the next four years.
Credit card debt reduction starts with reduction in the expenditures you make using your credit card. So, the first trick for credit card reduction is to go for shopping without your credit card (carry some small amount of cash). Read more »
Let’s check what one can term as a good credit card deal. A credit card deal is good if it works for you. So, if the credit card fits into your lifestyle in a way that rakes in maximum benefits for you, that is a good credit card deal.