The Financial Ombudsman Service has frozen individual case fees at £750 and fees at £106m for 2023/24.
These are contained in its budget for the coming year, which identifies five key areas for change.
He wants to build on his progress in reducing wait times and focus on his digital transformation program.
Other areas include building the workforce for the future, creating an updated funding model for 2024-2025, and developing a data-driven prevention strategy.
This followed FOS Chair Zahida Manzour on 14 March 2023 reporting to the Treasury Select Committee that FOS backlogs are declining and the situation “seems to be improving”.
The number of pending cases has dropped from 90,000 as of May 2021 to about 37,000 as of March 2022, according to the FOS.
In 2023/24, FOS expects to receive 184,000 complaints and resolve 204,000 complaints.
In addition to the £750 individual case fee freeze and the £106 million fee announced in the budget, FOS also said that:
Reduce the voluntary jurisdiction fee from £700,000 to £500,000.
Businesses will continue to receive three free cases
Companies organizing a group account commission will not receive free cases
On March 20, the WCF announced an increase in the remuneration limit, which is the maximum amount a financial institution can claim if a complaint is upheld.
The limit is adjusted every year in line with inflation.
The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed that the FOS remuneration limit will be increased from April 1, 2023.
Complaints filed with the FOS on or after 1 April 2019 will now cost £415,000.
And it will be £190,000 for complaints filed with the FOS before 1 April 2019.
Fed officials have raised rates quickly over the past year to try to curb inflation, raising rates from near zero a year ago to just under 5 percent this month. But politicians have suggested they are nearing the end, predicting another rate hike this year. Jerome H. Powell, the chairman of the Fed, hinted that officials might stop adjusting policy altogether if problems in the banking sector hit the economy hard enough.
“As we assess the need for further increases, we will focus on incoming data and evolving forecasts, and in particular our assessment of the actual and expected impact of credit tightening,” Mr. Powell said at a news conference after the Fed meeting. . last rate decision last week. At this meeting, the central bank raised rates by a quarter of a point.
But inflation remains unusually fast: while slowing, it is still more than double the Fed’s 2 percent target. The banking turmoil seems to be subsiding and government officials say deposit flows have stabilized in recent days.
Officials speaking this week suggested they may have to do more to fight price increases and dismissed market speculation that they might cut rates this year.
“Inflation remains too high and the latest numbers confirm my view that there is still much to be done,” Susan Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in a speech Thursday. Miss Collins will not be voting this year.
House prices fell 3.1% year-on-year in March, the biggest drop since July 2009, according to Nationwide.
This compares to a 1.1% year-on-year drop in February.
On a monthly basis, home prices fell 0.8% in March after falling 0.5% a month earlier.
Nationwide reports that the average UK home price is now £257,122.
In the first quarter of this year, the building society adds, home prices fell in nine of the 13 regions it measures, with all regions at least seeing slower growth.
The worst performers were in Scotland, where house prices fell 3.1% year-on-year, while the West Midlands rose 1.4%, making it the best-performing region.
In the West Midlands, growth was 6.1% in the first quarter of 2022.
Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner said: “The housing market reached a turning point last year as a result of the financial market turmoil that followed the mini-budget. Since then, activity has remained subdued.
“It will be difficult for the market to regain significant momentum in the near term as consumer confidence remains weak and household budgets remain under pressure from high inflation. Housing affordability also remains limited as mortgage rates remain well above the lows that existed at the time last year.”
Real Estate Guild Executive Director Ian McKenzie says: “With the biggest annual drop in home prices since the financial crisis, homeowners may be worried about what this means for them.
“Unlike the financial crisis, we did not see a sharp drop in transactions, so the slowdown in prices can hardly be called an expected collapse.
“Sellers are becoming more open to negotiating with buyers at the asking price, and that can skew the data.”
McKenzie continues: “While we are forecasting an overall decline of around 8% this year, this will only bring house prices back to 2021 levels.
“Confidence in the real estate market is returning after the mini-budget failure last September, and we should expect further improvements if inflation is brought under control this year.”
However, Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance expert Sarah Coles comments: “Buyers have been crushed by runaway inflation, inflated mortgage rates, a sluggish economy and the threat that things could get worse.
“Rics data for February showed that consumer demand fell again for the tenth month in a row. Buyers’ enthusiasm was probably further undermined by the fact that the gradual fall in mortgage rates ended in March.
“At the end of February, according to Moneyfacts, the average two-year trading was 5.32%, and by March 30, it had risen very slightly to 5.38%.
“As a result, sellers have to compromise to change their property. Ricks says 60% of homes under £500,000 are selling for less than asking price, and Zoopla found that 40% of home sellers cut prices before a seller even shows up, by an average of 4.5%.
She continues: “There is a glimmer of hope in the mortgage market. The rate hike is likely to be a temporary blip as inflation turns out to be higher than expected. As we get closer to the end of the year, we expect inflation to drop significantly, so we may well see rate cuts again.
“Already in February there was a very slight increase in the number of approved mortgages for the coming months. However, this is still less than half of the numbers we saw two years ago, so you need to look very closely to see any real hope in these numbers.
These figures are easy to interpret as the beginning of a slippery slope, where prices start to gradually fall and then accelerate. We cannot yet rule out the possibility of a gradual southward drift and a softer landing, but this looks increasingly unlikely.”
Virgin Orbit will cease operations “for the foreseeable future” after failing to secure a lifetime funding path, CEO Dan Hart told employees during a general meeting on Thursday afternoon, and will lay off about 90% of its workforce.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to secure the funding to provide a clear path for this company,” Hart said, according to an audio recording of the 5:00 pm ET meeting obtained by CNBC.
Hart has been briefing employees daily on the news since Monday, when Virgin Orbit postponed a scheduled general meeting to Thursday at the last minute. Negotiations for a late-stage deal with a pair of investors fell through over the weekend, but Hart told staff on Monday that “very dynamic” investment discussions were underway.
Those discussions with investors continued this week, with Hart saying management will share any updates “as quickly and transparently as possible,” noting that the leaked emails are “against company policy,” according to copies of Hart’s Tuesday and Wednesday emails obtained by CNBC. .
This week, the company has been steadily returning more than 750 of its employees from an operational pause and leave that began on March 15, after initially resuming some “small team” work on March 22. Amid a wider pause, Virgin Orbit is working to complete the investigation into the failure of the previous mid-flight launch, as well as preparing the next rocket.
A spokesperson for Virgin Orbit did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Shares of Virgin Orbit closed at 34 cents a share on Thursday, down 82% year-to-date.
Virgin Orbit has developed a system that uses a modified 747 jet to send satellites into space by dropping a rocket from under the plane’s wing mid-flight. But the company’s latest mission failed mid-flight due to a problem during launch that caused the rocket to fail into orbit and crash into the ocean.
The company had been looking for new funds for several months and the majority owner, Sir Richard Branson, was unwilling to fund the company any further.
Virgin Orbit was spun off from Branson’s Virgin Galactic in 2017 and considers the billionaire its largest shareholder with a 75% stake. Mubadala, the Emirates sovereign wealth fund, holds the second largest stake in Virgin Orbit, with an 18% stake.
The company has hired bankruptcy firms to draw up contingency plans in case it can’t find a buyer or investor. Branson has priority over Virgin Orbit’s assets as the company has raised $60 million in debt from Virgin Group’s investment arm.
The same day that Hart told employees that Virgin Orbit was suspending operations, its board of directors approved a plan to lay off the “golden parachute” for top managers in case they were fired “after a change in control” of the company.
It’s official, Fast X is on its way to cinemas in May and, once again, we can’t wait to witness the obligatory collection of crazy automotive creations ripping up the tarmac – including the Datsun 240Z street racer we all spotted in the official trailer.
As dedicated fans of modified Japanese imports, we’ve seen more than our fair share of tuner car icons used on screen since The Fast and the Furious stormed the scene way back in 2001. There’s even been a few true-blue JDM examples along the way.
In fact, there’s no doubt that the F&F movies have become synonymous with Japanese car culture over the years. With everything from the Skyline GT-R and Nissan Maxima playing key roles to bona fide Japanese supercars such as the Lexus LFA and Honda NSX making cameos, these movies have served to keep Japanese metal in the modifying zeitgeist for over two decades now.
And therein lies the question of the day: what are the most iconic Japanese cars to grace the big screen throughout the Fast & Furious Saga? Well, we’ve narrowed it down to 10 of our all-time favourites.
1. 1994 Toyota Supra A80
The most famous JDM car of them all? Well, that’s probably half true. The Lamborghini-Orange “Nuclear Gladiator” Toyota Supra may be the most well-known Japanese car of the entire franchise. But the turbocharged, targa-top hero used in the original movie was a left-hand-drive US model. So, strictly speaking, you couldn’t call it JDM.
What this car was, however, was a genuine modified monster. And that was before the film was even in development. The Fast and The Furious was a relatively low-budget flick, so – to save on the budget – the car was rented from the film’s technical advisor, Craig Lieberman. His A80 Supra was already sporting a heavily modified 3-litre 2JZ-GTE engine and pushing out a whopping 570bhp – nearly double that of a standard Twin Turbo Supra. In fact, the only changes that the production team made for the movie were the wheels, body styling and orange paint job (originally the car was yellow). Just about everything else was already there.
And if you’re wondering about the ‘junker’ on the back of a tow truck in the movie, that was indeed sporting a 2JZ engine – but not the legendary twin turbo lump they were describing. It would have taken way more than 15k to get it up to full ‘Race Wars’ spec too. In reality, they would have put well over 100k into this build. But that’s Hollywood for you, eh?
Aside from the genuine hero car, a host of other replicas were built for stunts and racing scenes, some of which were repainted and used for Slap-Jack’s car in 2 Fast 2 Furious. There’s also a white 1995 US Twin Turbo model at the end of Furious 7, but this wasn’t a rehash of one of these cars; that one was from Paul Walker’s personal collection.
So, what happened to the orange Supra when filming wrapped? It simply went back to its original owner. Although it did turn up again in 2021 where it was sold at auction for $550k. Not a bad payday for a 90s Toyota, is it?
2. 1993 & 1997 Mazda RX-7 FD
Everyone’s favourite rotary-powered Mazda had two of the most important roles in the franchise. First, one of these introduced Dominic Toretto to the series in The Fast and The Furious, and it was the only Japanese tuner car he raced before breaking out the trademark American muscle cars. And second, the main hero car from Tokyo Drift was Han Seoul-Oh’s widebody ‘Fortune’ RX-7 FD.
In the modifying world, of course, the Mazda RX-7 is something of an icon – the very reason why it was used in both movies. As with Brian’s Supra in the first film, the frugal producers rented a ready-built example (this time owned by Keith Imoto) and made a few cosmetic changes. The car was originally a left-hand drive US model in grey with heavily modified 13B engine and a roll cage. The producers painted the car red, and then removed the cage, simply because Vin Diesel couldn’t fit in it. A few clone cars were also built, but these were standard, except for the exterior styling and exhausts.
Dom’s Mazda is shown to have a huge aftermarket sound system in the movie, but these shots were actually taken from another car. The real-life version only had a factory audio system – it was a lightweight racer, after all. This car was also repainted and used in 2 Fast 2 Furious by Orange Julius.
The 1997 RX-7 featured in Tokyo Drift, as you would expect, is a full-on JDM model. This car was also bought ready modified, but this time for a reported $150k from legendary Japanese tuners Veilside. Originally their company demo car, it was first built to showcase their £15K Fortune widebody kit at the 2005 Tokyo Auto Salon. It was also dark red, but the F&F team repainted it in House of Kolor Orange to make sure it popped on screen. Which – we think we can all agree – it did nicely.
3. 2003 Nissan Fairlady Z33
The JDM version of the Nissan 350Z is what you might call a bona fide Japanese muscle car. In fact, this one is practically an American fastback, simply from having a huge 3.5-litre ‘V’ engine up front, rear-wheel-drive at the back and presumably a driver grinning like a madman in the middle.
But, while large capacity VQ35DE V6 engines (which negate the need to mess about with turbochargers) was the order of the day for Nissan in the noughties, the JDM Fairlady Z used in Tokyo Drift was fitted with an aftermarket twin turbo kit developed by Australian tuning house, APS. This gave our automotive anti-hero around 450bhp, which is about 170bhp over standard and more than enough for any Drift King to break out the sideways antics.
The Z33, which went on sale around the world in various specs between 2002 and 2009, has proved infinitely popular on the global tuning scene. There’s still plenty of modified examples on the show scene today, and they’re one of the few that can still be picked up for a reasonable price. With those curvy good looks, this car was ahead of its time, and it’s one that has aged extremely well… if at all.
It has also been well catered for by the aftermarket over the years. From the very beginning, parts manufacturers were falling over themselves to offer tuning upgrades, chassis parts, body styling and wheels. This includes the mighty Veilside who were already involved with the movie with their Fortune RX-7, so it makes sense that they’d supply their equally crazy V3 widebody aero kit, massive Andrew Evolution wheels, and a whole load of carbon fibre bolt-ons for the main antagonist.
4. 1999 Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R V-Spec
The fabled R34 GT-R may be one of the cars most associated with the franchise – not to mention Paul Walker himself – but this car only made a couple of major appearances. Most notably in the fourth instalment (Fast & Furious) and, perhaps most famously of all, as the introductory hero car in the second film.
Now, it goes without saying that the R34 Skyline GT-R is one of the most coveted Japanese tuner car icons ever conceived – a genuine cult classic. This 2.6-litre twin-turbocharged monster is probably THE car of the PlayStation generation, and they command prices of well over £100k nowadays. But, because the Skyline was never officially offered for sale in the US, the cars used (with the exception of a single UK model) were all JDM models. This also explains why they were all right-hand-drive cars.
Surprisingly, the 2002 Bayside Blue GT-R used for a little smuggling in Mexico in Fast & Furious wasn’t even a GT-R at all. Instead, the production team created a number of replicas using non-turbocharged, 1998-2001 GT models. These also came with basic rear-wheel-drive rather than the legendary Nissan ATSSA AWD system.
In 2 Fast 2 Furious, though, that was a genuine 1999 JDM R34 GT-R. What’s more, this one only missed out on being the star of the entire film because of a product placement deal with Mitsubishi (hence the Evo VII and Eclipse Convertible being used). The main hero car was another owned by Craig Lieberman and modified with a whole host of HKS engine upgrades and nitrous oxide. Another four cars were imported by MotoRex and fitted with matching C-West body kits, HRE wheels and the infamous House of Kolor paint job with added blue stripes.
The last R34 built for the movie – which was imported from Middlehurst Motorsport in the UK and modified accordingly – was only used for the bridge-jump scene, where it was destroyed.
5. 2002/2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII & IX
There’s been two Mitsubishi Evos used as hero cars in the early F&F movies. First the 2002 Evo VII in 2 Fast 2 Furious, and then the 2006 Evo IX in Tokyo Drift.
The irony, of course, is that the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has always been most famous for its rallying prowess, and there wasn’t a dirt track in sight in either movie. Because of the legendary all-wheel-drive systems used in all models of the Evo since its inception, it’s ironic that one of these was chosen as a drift car in the third movie too. Albeit an Evo IX that had been converted to rear-wheel-drive specifically for this purpose. Then again, this certainly got the car community talking, so maybe that was the whole point.
What’s also interesting is that the Evo VII wasn’t ever available in the US. The Evo VIII model was launched later in America, but that wasn’t until after 2 Fast 2 Furious was released in 2003. Instead, the on-screen cars were donated by Mitsubishi Japan for the filming and modified by the production team with new rear lights to look like the upcoming Evo VIII. Mitsubishi shipped over four in total and the reason these models were left-hand-drive is that they were originally destined for a rally team in Austria before being diverted to the US.
Both the F&F cars have some serious high-performance heritage. Originally intended solely as a JDM model, the Evo I came along in 1992 and has “evolved” through 10 different variants, all powered by a 2-litre turbocharged engine. The Evo X was retired back in 2016. Such was the early success of these cars on the grey import market that Mitsubishi officially offered them for sale worldwide in 1998. They have since gone on to become extremely successful in motorsport, and one of the most iconic cars in the modifying community.
6. Nissan Skyline GT-R C10 ‘Hakosuka’
This particularly retro example may not have had a huge amount of screen time, but there’s no doubt that the appearance of a C10 GT-R in Fast Five was something that delighted connoisseurs of JDM classics.
The Hakosuka is a special car. The first Skyline model to sport the iconic GT-R badge, it was initially available as a 4-door sedan in 1969 and later as a 2-door coupe in 1971. Both variants came equipped with a 160bhp inline straight 6 engine, rear-wheel drive, and even a limited slip differential, making these pumped-up examples of the third-generation Nissan/Datsun Skyline far ahead of their time.
A bona fide holy grail Nissan, the nickname “Hakosuka” wasn’t officially sanctioned by Nissan; instead, it became popular on the streets of Japan where the car was known as the “Box Skyline” because of its chunky body. “Hako” is the literal translation of the word box and “suka” is a shortened version of the word “sukairain,” which means skyline.
Less than 2000 examples were ever produced, and they’re one of the most sought-after Japanese models by serious car collectors. Nowadays, you can expect to pay the best part of £200k at auction, making Brian’s 1971 GT-R Coupe turning up in Brazil one of the priciest cameos for a JDM Kyusha (old car) over the entire F&F franchise.
7. 2000 Honda S2000
The Honda badge is one that’s become synonymous with the street tuning and modifying scenes around the world, and when they launched the convertible S2000 in 1999 it was an instant hit. It’s easy to see why: with its lightweight frame, high-revving 2-litre VTEC engine and literally thousands of aftermarket parts available, this little 2-seater remains popular to this day. Although modern classic status means that prices are currently rising, they’re still available for reasonable money too.
The S2000 made a couple of key appearances in the Fast and Furious saga. First as Johnny Tran’s anti-hero car in The Fast and The Furious, and second as Suki’s car in 2 Fast 2 Furious… yep, the one that jumped the bridge with Brian’s R34 Skyline.
Contrary to popular belief, and despite being listed as different years in the movie specs, these two were actually the same car. The three S2000s (including the main car and stunt cars) used for the first movie were repurposed for the second.
The original Johnny Tran hero car was a US model rented from RJ DeVera, the actor who played Danny Yamato (the guy who drove the white Honda Civic in the first street race). Rather than having “more than a hundred grand under the hood,” there were just a few performance modifications, including a Comptech supercharger, pushing the car to around 290bhp. So it was a quick S2000 for sure, but it was no 10-second car.
For 2 Fast 2 Furious, the car was purchased by the production team where they repainted it pink and changed the wheels.
8. 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse
Although a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder is used as Roman’s car in 2 Fast 2 Furious, the most important Eclipse in the series will always be the 1995 Kawasaki Green coupe from the first movie. After all, it’s the very first street racer we see over the whole saga… and it introduces Paul Walker’s character to the franchise.
Five clone cars were created for various shots, but the original hero car was a silver US model rented from John Lapid. This came ready modified apart from the exterior paintwork.
Despite being a rather epic-looking show car clad in a full RoboCar body kit, and having a few performance modifications such as an intake and nitrous oxide system, the street racing credentials weren’t quite as impressive as depicted in the movie. This car had around 140bhp and wasn’t sporting a turbocharged 4G63 engine as stated, so it’s unlikely it would be keeping up with a standard RX-7 let alone one that’s been street tuned to perfection. But does that matter? Of course it doesn’t – it’s all in the name of entertainment.
9. 2001 Nissan Silvia Spec-S S15
The screentime may have been limited for this one, what with the car being destroyed early on in the movie, but there’s no denying that the “Mona Lisa” Nissan Silvia was one of the biggest stars of Tokyo Drift.
A legendary car for drifting, and on the modified car scene in general, the Nissan Silvia (known as the Nissan S-Body car) has been through a whole load of iterations since being launched by Datsun in 1965. Perhaps the most well-known to the world’s modifiers are the 80s and 90s Nissan S13, S14 and S15 variants. We see a few of these over the course of the franchise, including the car driven by Letty in the first film – a US model 240SX S14 (with an S14A front end). After being repainted, this one also makes an appearance in 2 Fast 2 Furious.
The king of the on-screen Silvias, though, is undoubtedly the C-west-kitted JDM Silvia S15 built specifically for Tokyo Drift. Rumour has it that over $7,000,000 were spent on the cars alone for this movie, with over 200 being acquired and shipped from all around the world. But, even with this huge budget, this “Spec-R” Silvia wasn’t quite as it was depicted in terms of its performance.
For a start, the massive RB26DETT engine we see stripped out and slotted into a Mustang at the end of the movie was never fitted to this car. Of course, taking the legendary twin-turbocharged lump from a Skyline GT-R and transferring it to an S15 is a dream conversion for many, and reasonably common in the drifting world, but it was never something carried out by the producers. In fact, the Silvia used was also a base model Spec-S car, which didn’t come with the tuner’s favourite 250bhp turbocharged SR20DET engine found in the Spec-R either. So we’re talking around 160bhp rather than 500-odd-bhp as shown in the film.
But then again, we can forgive all this because there’s no doubt the Mona Lisa was still one of the most authentic cars used throughout the franchise, simply because they used a Silvia for drifting. It’s also an example that has spawned many replicas around the world.
10. 1993 Honda Civic Coupe EJ1
The three neon-lit Honda Civic “heist cars” from The Fast and The Furious may not be full-on street racers as such, but they are the first F&F cars we see. By all accounts, these were some of the most unloved screen cars over the entire franchise; having been built only to survive a couple of weeks’ filming, they were all considered disposable by the production team.
It goes without saying that the Civic has always been popular with modifiers, with plenty of legendary examples being pumped out by Honda to this day. 2021 saw the eleventh generation of this car hit the streets and, over the years, they have all (particularly the Type-R variants) become the bread and butter of the import tuning scene. This is why the Civics that were most popular on the streets of the US in 2001 were chosen to star in the movie. But again, the US coupe models used were about as far from full-on racing spec as it’s possible to get. The modifications here were all cosmetic, and very much of their time. They looked cool back in the day though, and perhaps that’s all that matters.
With a relatively low budget for the builds, the production team picked up a number of cheap (and rather rough) DX models, along with one EX – the one with the sunroof. These were painted black and fitted the Axis wheels, VIS GT Bomber body kits and Veilside rear spoilers. The noisy exhausts were low-cost universal items hidden away under the bumpers.
After the first movie, the Civics did get a slight reprieve, however. The survivors were repainted and fitted with Bomex kits to be used as background cars in 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Despite varying reports of these cars having highly-tuned B18 engines with aftermarket turbochargers and all the trimmings, the true story is that these were all 1.5-litre models with around 100hp. But while they may not be the most mind-blowing tuner car legends throughout the series, their cult status with many fans means that these little Hondas more than deserve a spot in our top ten.
Want to read more about JDM cars? Read our blogs on the best JDM cars of the 90s and our favourite Japanese cars.
Get JDM insurance for your imported car
If you’ve decided to finally take the plunge and buy a JDM car from the Fast & Furious franchise, call us for an imported Japanese car insurance quote. We offer tailored cover to suit your needs and budget. Call us on 0800 369 8590 or book a callback for a fast, affordable quote.
Starting tomorrow (March 31), Virgin Money will reduce the number of core, exclusive, product sale and transfer transactions.
Exclusive features include:
The five-year fixed L/P rate of 65% with a fee of £1,495 will be reduced by 14 basis points to 3.90%.
Remortgaging 65% LTV for five years with a fee of £995 will be reduced by 21bp. up to 3.91%.
The selected patches will be reduced to 20 bps.
Highlights include:
The five-year LTV fix of 65% with a £995 fee will be reduced by 15 basis points to 3.95%.
The five-year fixed fee savings of 65% LTV will be reduced by 10 basis points to 4.14%.
Selected fixed rates will be reduced to 15 basis points.
The main and exclusive features of BTL include:
The two-year 50% LTV fix with a fee of £3,995 will be reduced by 11 basis points to 4.07%.
Selected fixed rates will be reduced to 10 basis points.
The lender also says that he has chosen residential and BTL product transfer corrections will be reduced to 33 bp.
The firm adds that from 20:00 today, it will increase the following products:
An exclusive two-year fixed house purchase with 75% LTV and a £1495 commission will be increased by 10 basis points.
Fixed transfer rates for selected products will be increased to 10 basis points per second.
Virgin Money head of intermediary sales Richard Walker says: “We have made a number of cuts to our residential and BTL portfolio, supporting all market segments, including those clients who may want to take the next step up the housing ladder.
“For those clients looking for longer term security, we have a new five-year flat rate below 4% at 65% LTV.”
SEOUL – Mamamoo+, the sub-unit of K-pop girl group Mamamoo, returned on Wednesday with their first single “Act 1, Scene 1”.
Made up of members Sol and Moonbyul, Mamamoo+ invites listeners into a new chapter with the single. The duo’s latest release came seven months after the digital single “Better”.
The three-track compilation is preceded by “GGBB,” also called “Good Girl Bad Boy,” an upbeat and groovy dance-pop melody that reveals the dynamic charms of the two singers, paired with groovy bass sounds and vintage drum beats.
The single also highlights the colors of traditional Korean music in other tracks. Ahead of the full release, the duo released “Chico Malo”, an Asian-inspired trap song that fuses traditional Korean and Latin American music. Aniri version of “Chico Malo”, incorporating the musical method of storytelling in Korean pansori music, is featured by pansori singer Kim Jun-soo and is exclusively included on the physical CD.
The single also included the fan song “LLL”.
Mamamoo+ debuted in August 2022 with the song “Better” featuring rapper Big Naughty.
The band’s new single comes ahead of Mamamoo’s US tour in May. Following the successful Asian leg of their My Con global concert series, the quartet is set to embark on a US tour beginning in New York City on May 16th.
Almost a quarter of renters say they are “struggling to pay their rent,” while more than half worry about keeping up with their payments, according to a Deposit Protection Service survey.
It found that 51% of renters are worried they won’t be able to manage their housing costs in the future, and 23% are currently having trouble paying their rent bills, according to a government-supported survey by the Housing Depository Service. England and Wales. . .
It says 62% of recent movers are paying higher rents than expected, and 64% have had to make financial sacrifices to pay for new housing costs.
The study adds that half of all renters who have moved home within the past year are paying between £51 and £200 to rent more per month.
About 18.5% of new settlers pay £201 to £300 a month for new rent, while 7% pay £301 to £400 more. Only 3% of settlers paid less than £50 a month to move to a new location.
UK annual rents fell 11.1%, or an average of £1,078 a month, in the first quarter of the year, according to data from Zoopla this week. “to continue to outpace revenue growth” this year.
A study by the Depository Service found that 30% of recent movers were forced to take on extra work or extra work to meet rental obligations.
Among all tenants surveyed – those who moved and those who stayed – 33% reported an increase in rent in the last 12 months, and 27% said they were paying a quarter more per month than the previous year.
Among renters who find it difficult to keep up with housing costs, 29% say they are spending less, a quarter have taken on extra work, and 30% plan to lay off staff.
Matt Trevett, managing director of Deposit Protection Services, said: “These results show that rent increases are happening across the country and are clearly impacting both moving and non-moving tenants.
“A large proportion tell us that they are reaching the limits of what they can afford as a result of a combination of higher than expected rent, food and energy costs, and express concern about the future if their rent continues to rise. “.
The firm surveyed 2,025 of its tenant clients in England and Wales between March 7 and 13.
Post Almost a quarter of tenants are “fighting” with paying rent: DPS first appeared on Mortgage Strategy.
For the past five years, Tevita Uhatafe of TWU Local 567 has dedicated himself to advancing the labor movement. Known affectionately as “Mic Guy,” Uhatafe has traveled from coast to coast to rally in solidarity with striking workers in multiple states. Uhatafe entered the union movement as an outsider without family connections, but has nevertheless risen as a rank-and-file leader. He is now the Vice President of the Texas AFL-CIO. Vince Quiles, lead organizer of Home Depot Workers United, sits down with Tefita Uhatafe for an organizer-to-organizer conversation on their respective stories, the barriers impeding deeper solidarity in the labor movement, and why unions so desperately need rank-and-file leadership today.
Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Adam Coley
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Vince Quiles:
Hey, everyone. My name is Vince Quiles reporting for the Real News Network, the lead organizer from store 4112 at Home Depot in Philadelphia, most of the interim president, Home Depot Workers United. Today, I have the privilege to speak with a very special guest, somebody who I consider part of the lifeblood of the labor movement. Some of you guys may know him as Mic-Guy. I know him as a friend. Tevita ‘Uhatafe from TWU Local 567, who’s been on the front lines organizing for five years. Again, I very much look forward to this conversation. Without further ado, let’s bring him in here. What’s up, Tevita? How are you, bro?
Tevita Uhatafe:
Just so blessed. I’m so thankful, and I’m so honored to join you as a guest on your show. And let’s talk about organizing.
Vince Quiles:
Yeah, let’s do it, baby. Hey, look, and just a personal anecdote, I remember when I was going through our organizing drive here in Philly and having a conversation with you. Man, that was a much-needed shot in the arm, the way that you were just able to, again, speak that energy through the phone and help somebody who is very new to this. I think you have a lot of interesting insight to offer others who are looking to organize. And hopefully at the end of this conversation, we can get a couple of them moving.
Tevita Uhatafe:
Let’s do it.
Vince Quiles:
Let’s go. All righty. Well, so to dig into it, firstly, can we just get a little bit of backstory on you? So talk to us a little bit about your five years organizing. And what area do you organize? And what is it that you do for a living?
Tevita Uhatafe:
Okay. So I’ve been a union member for seven and a half years. In the seven and a half years as a union member of my local TWU Local 567, I’ve been doing a lot of organizing, not within the aviation industry where I work… I work for a major airline as a parts distributor. And I’m very recent to my local. Before that, I was working for fleet service in the same airline where we would load and unload luggage, other commodities onto planes.
But the way I got involved was pretty much not because somebody gave me the option to get involved. I had to fight my way into conversations of being involved in the movement. My former Local 513 of TWU, we used to… I was a shop steward there for four years, but I was one of the… So we had this merger between two major airlines, and then they had this hiring spree, and Dallas Fort Worth being a major hub to this airline, I came in with this whole big group of new generation of workers into the workforce.
So I spent the first couple years just as a rank-and-file member before I became a steward. But that wasn’t easy becoming a steward in my local because how young I was in the local. I I didn’t know the contract like those other senior stewards or those on the board, or those who have been members for years. I didn’t have anybody to rely on, to ask for questions like that because there are not many Tongan-Americans who are representatives in my local when I first joined.
So it was tough for me to get involved because I didn’t know who to reach out to or how to even… The first thing I did was to show up to the union meetings. And from there, it kind of slowly… I started going to different, I guess, events that were going on within the local before they finally called me up and said, “Hey, this guy probably is interested in getting involved. He’s young.” And they didn’t know anything about me. There was no history or anything. So they put me in the legislative kind of COPE committee, if you will. It’s the Committee of Political Education. A lot of unions have it, maybe have a different name towards it, but the main thing is to get politically involved and hold people accountable if they’re in office, or to ask for support, make endorsements, things of that sort.
But what was frustrating for me was I had to take a different route, whereas those who were also my age that maybe had a family member who was already in the union, they were automatically given spots as stewards, but we both didn’t have anything to show for it. So how come this person gets to be in a position, but I’m over here having to do all the dirty work, doing… And it’s not no disrespect, but I had to fight to be involved.
Vince Quiles:
Well, I was just wanted to ask, so something that I find interesting in what you’re talking about is… One of the things that we criticize when we look at corporate America when we engage in these fights is that there’s this claim of meritocracy, but that doesn’t always quite seem to be the case. And it seems like, even within the labor movement and in the local you were in, you still had to face that. Is that an accurate statement, is to say there’s a lot of nepotism, a lot of favoritism, and not as much leaning on the meritocracy aspect of it? Right? Somebody, like you said, who’s putting in the work, who’s doing the dirty work, getting their hands dirty, and really honestly doing the most important parts of organizing, building those relationships.
And to just piggyback with that, again, knowing you in the capacity that I do, I find you to be a very magnetic person. I’m sure that your coworkers feel the same. Was there ever any consideration to get input from the workers around you to say, “Hey, no, this is our guy. This is the guy that we want when stuff is hitting the fan to sit down and to really advocate for us?” So yeah, just to kind of condense that question, it seems as if though it’s not as much of a meritocracy within some of these unions as much as we would hope it to be. And how much input are they getting from the actual rank-and-file workers in terms of who they want for their representation?
Tevita Uhatafe:
Yeah, absolutely. The members will speak. And they may not tell those who are in the positions of power within the local or international or whatever, but if they keep calling the same person like me to come and represent them or asking me questions, they’re telling me they’re trusting me without telling me they’re trusting me. Because otherwise, there’s other places that can get the information. There were stewards out 35, 40-plus years, but yet here we are calling the guy who just showed up, who just found out that the restroom was right there, and now we’re asking him contract issues. Now, you tell me who the workers trust more, or who they trust.
There is an element of favoritism, things like that. And that could be in any movement. Maybe you have a family member, or maybe whatever within the movement, that they made a name for themselves and you’re just another generation. Let’s think of President O’Brien from the Teamsters. He’s a third-generation union member. Of course he’s going to be involved. And his name, over there in Boston, they’re known to be union people. But see, I’m coming from another country. My parents are immigrants. So when you come here, you have no name, you don’t know anything about a movement, but you know that the people who work alongside or work side-by-side with you… We may not work for the same company, like the caterers, for instance, those who load and unload aircraft catering carts to serve the flying public when in the air, a lot of those jobs are tailored towards first-generation or immigrants, newly immigrants to the country because they’re low paid wage jobs, and those are jobs that they’re trying to fill the holes because they got to provide a service to the airline.
Every airline needs caterers. But those are the jobs that usually people from my country will start off working. And they were exploited. They were taken advantage of because of the language barrier, and that happens to many of us. I would see that. You see me stepping back. And I’m in a good local here. I’m in an aviation union. This is hoorah, but I can be standing within three feet of somebody who’s doing another service for the airline just like I am, yet that depression’s making one fourth of what I’m making. And we’re both burning in the sun together, we’re both doing the job that we’re asked to and going above and beyond because of the elements. But yet here we are, and that person, who could live in the same neighborhood with me, makes one fourth less than me. How is that fair, where we can be doing the same job and our kids going to the same school, how could I sit back and allow these kind of things to happen when these are people who are in my community?
So a lot of my organizing was actually not within my own local because I didn’t have any doors open. It was geared towards helping other workers. So I would have to freelance. To stay involved, I would’ve to freelance into another struggle because the doors weren’t open for me. And that’s where really, I learned about unionism and the strength that we have when we collectively fight together, regardless of what our jobs are. And we don’t use… I have this good contract. We don’t sit in our silo and just enjoy the contract while somebody else is suffering.
That kind of thinking, it comes back to who I am as a Tongan, my background, we are people from the islands who don’t have much, but we hold on to the things, to our values. Being together and helping people out, that’s one of the biggest values that we carry on from the islands, and I’m just trying to inject that kind of feeling into the movement that I’m not here… I haven’t been here forever. Just like you, we’re not here, we haven’t been here forever. We’re trying to find our way through this journey. But if we can do it holding each other’s hand together, we can figure this shit out together.
Vince Quiles:
Absolutely.
Tevita Uhatafe:
At this point, the state of the labor movement, there’s going to be always going to be favor to, there’s always going to be something that is going to keep somebody who’s really hungry away from trying to help people. That’s what we want to do, right? We want to help workers. But if we hold on to the relationships, like you and I have, we build each other up, it doesn’t matter whether we have a title as a president or international president or any of that, none of it matters because the workers will follow those people who they believe will lead them or find the answers for them.
Vince Quiles:
Them. I just wanted to say, right? So you’re kind of touching on something I think to be extremely important, and I kind of want to pull that thread a little bit more in terms of the selflessness that comes with being an organizer, right? So a local. You’re already engaged in the fights that are within your own respective slice of the pie, yet you’re still taking the time to help and to fight for others. And I think it’s just such an important question to ask people like yourself. When you’re in the thick of it, when you’re going through these battles, and whether this is in the things that you face in your own personal work environment, or you’re standing at a picket line for another group of people, what are the things that you see just in today’s working environment that really motivates you to speak with the fervor that you do, with the passion that you do in order to try and get people to stand up?
I know there are countless injustices that so many people could really enumerate, but I think it’s so important to hear from people on the front lines like yourself. What is it that you’re seeing in the day-to-day work life? What is it that you’re hearing from the different workers that you’re talking to that is such an animating factor to get you to fight with the ferocity that you do?
Tevita Uhatafe:
I think making the connections between struggles, because a lot of the struggles that I get myself involved in, I have no business in because I’m not personally struggling in that. But you find some way, you personalize it, you meet somebody that works in that industry, and you talk to them about… You talk. We talk. You talk, we talk, and we talk about the issues, and I try to find a way outside of my own issues, work issues, to personalize what it is that’s happening with those folks, and how I can connect it with me and how I can make it my issue too. We need to start personalizing. And that’s why it’s so important to get into somebody else’s fight or to support somebody, because you’re never going to learn about real issues if you’re just taking somebody’s word for it on a picture or something.
If you’re really talking to the workers, they’ll tell you. They’ll going on, and then you can go back to your workplace like I do, and we can have conversations with those who think that maybe I shouldn’t be meddling in that worker’s issues because that’s theirs. We like to keep ourselves in silos because that’s not our fight, but it is absolutely our fight because it’s our community who’s involved. Those are the people who work alongside us. Their kids go to school with ours. So our communities are affected by it. If that’s not personal enough for you, then you’re in the wrong organizing movement because you have to personalize the fight. You have to find a reason to be agitated so you can agitate somebody else.
Vince Quiles:
Yeah, no, I feel you. I remember talking with a UPS worker when I used to work at Home Depot all the time, and just always constantly trying to check in on him. “Hey dude, how you doing?” I remember he’d come in the summertime, and he would lift up the back door of his truck and you’d feel like this hot air coming, and you’d feel genuine concern for that person. Because to your point, we’re working together. This is somebody that has a family that is a contributing member to society, and ultimately there’s this interconnectivity between everything that we do. And sometimes we may not always see it, but it’s there, right? You being a parts distributor, you doing what you do, I’m sure affected how we received the stuff that we’ve received at Home Depot, right? I’m sure that there were probably things that we sold within that store that passed [inaudible 00:15:36], right?
And there’s just this interconnectivity so important to consider, right? And I think it’s why it’s so important to hear your perspective on that, is to remember that, whether it’s within your own personal work environment or somewhere else across the country, in the end, it all kind of bleeds together. And when you look at the way that our economy is set up, the fact that it’s so globalized, it’s kind of forced to be interconnected. And in the end, it’s not like the people at the top are going to care about us, right? It’s going to be the people like yourself who are showing up to these picket lines, who are trying to fight and inspire people along the way. And I think, again, that’s such a major point to really reflect on. And thank you. Thank you for doing that, right? Again, that’s something that makes a large impact.
Something else I kind of wanted to circle back to that I think is interesting to talk about, and you touched on it a little bit earlier, but one thing I think is really interesting too, when you look at organizing, when you look at the values behind it, the concepts behind it, I think it’s so fascinating to talk to people about what their inspirations are in terms of what we just talked about, what you see in the front lines at work, the issues that you deal with, but what is it also personally like for you, even apart from labor organizing that helps to instill the values that are at the core of it? Things like courage, resilience, engaging in a battle of attrition, staring down Goliath, knowing you’re David and saying, “Nah, we’re still going to do this.” What are some of the personal inspirations for you? I know you talked a little bit about your heritage, if you want to delve into that more, we’d love to hear more about that.
Tevita Uhatafe:
Yeah, yeah, sure. So I spoke with Max a lot about my culture and how I connect my culture to the movement. And my idea of solidarity is different, because in the islands, everybody knows each other, and everybody’s family. And if there’s a funeral or something, any kind of event, whether it’s celebrating a birth or celebrating death, everybody in the family gets together. We get together. Not everybody has a lot, but if we put in together, we get the job done. And that’s kind of what I brought here to the movement. I don’t have a lot. People know very well. They’ve crowdfunded me to get two picket lines. But once the workers can get me there, I can talk about my culture and how my journey was helped by a bunch of workers who are listening in and saying, “You know what? Let’s keep this guy going because this is something that we want to see, that the workers need to see, that we do care about each other, and we’re going to find a way to get their voices out or pass along a message that these workers are fighting.”
This kind of organizing is, it’s kind of class, if you will. I don’t know. I hate to toot my own horn, but I guess I got some [inaudible 00:18:53].
Vince Quiles:
Go ahead, sir.
Tevita Uhatafe:
… in this movement, right? And sometimes it’s taken a threat by those who are in high places. So when I show up somewhere, or if I’m engaging with workers, it’s automatically, “Oh, he wants to go over there so he can go and,” I guess whatever they think. What they’re not taking out of it is I’m going out there to these different fights to go and amplify these fights to work, so I can go and talk to other workers about it, and I share it on social [inaudible 00:19:31]. A lot of work workers follow me. So if I can make it, and I use the help that I get from the public, from other workers, as well as at home. My wife, when she’s… We’re expecting right now. But when she we’re not-
Vince Quiles:
Congratulations.
Tevita Uhatafe:
When we’re not expecting, she usually is making earrings or anything that’s related to South Pacific. She’ll make earrings with turtle shell print. Or during the graduations, high school or college, she makes lays. We would import flowers in, and we would use the money she would make to fund me going to a picket line. Because although I can fly [inaudible 00:20:21], if a seat is available, I can get on a flight free of charge, but I still have to pay for the ride share or the public transportation to and from a picket line, of course. If I’m stuck in, I can’t fly, I have to get a hotel or whatever, but it’s those fundings that I get from regular workers who want to see me do this work that helps me continue to help amplify the message. There’s fights everywhere. And if I can make it to all of them, I would.
But man, it’s tough being a rank file member and knowing that I can’t just get off the manning and because I’m doing union business. It don’t work out. That doesn’t work for me. I have to take days off. And that’s a sacrifice that not a lot of people can understand because they haven’t done it yet. There are people who think that this comes easy, but it’s not hard being away away from home and spending money on traveling when I can be buying something to put on the table. I’m picking and choosing. I’m going with something, but leaving some without, all in the name of solidarity. And people tell me all the time, “You’re hurting yourself.” The way that I look at it and the way that my family looks at it, my wife, my kids, is this is a collective sacrifice to show people that you don’t have to have money, or you don’t have to be in a position of power to still support people. You can show up with nothing, not a dollar to your name, but as long as you show it up, the people will remember.
And I think that is invaluable to the struggles that we have every day as workers. If I can show them that I can struggle all the way to your picket line and then tell your story down the line, man, that’s power.
Vince Quiles:
That is. That is, and that’s the power within this worker movement. And of course, that’s something I think any labor organizer would tell you, anybody who’s looking to get into this. That is a battle that you have to have where you will have the best of intentions in your heart, but unfortunately, some people will still question that. But I think what’s very powerful in what you talk about is remembering the mission, right? In the end, an important thing, I think for organizers to remember, this is something that even I would still struggle with from time to time in my organizing efforts, as you know, don’t worry about the people who are screaming from the bleachers. Worry about the work that’s being done on the court. In the end, if you’re in the trenches, if you’re doing what you need to do and you’re doing it for the right reasons, it’s something that’s very important.
And I can just hear in talking to you, and you can definitely elaborate on this more, but it seems to be something that’s very fulfilling, because in the end, you’re putting something out into the world and not really expecting anything back, and just hoping that if anything, what happens from that is that maybe others will stand up and fight in that way, right? And that’s the thing. I think it’s important to note the type of sacrifices in which you talk about, because that’s how things like this build on itself and how they grow and they become stronger, is it’s because unfortunately for some of us, we’re going to have to put a little bit more skin in the game, but that’s what the hope that the sweat equity that you put in will hopefully mean that somebody else may not have to put as much, right?
It’s the same concept of being a parent. You go through the struggles you go through and the hopes that your child doesn’t have to. And so as long as, again, we remember that mission, I think that’s something that’s super important, right? And that’s a reason to be grateful for brave organizers like yourself, and why it is that we want to encourage others to stand up and to do the same thing, is because the more others can step in, the more it alleviates the burden on those who are ready within the game. And so with that, I guess just moving towards the end of our conversation, what advice would you give to people who are looking to organize in their workplace? Primarily, a big issue that people will face is the fear, the fear of being the one to step out and to have the courage to say something in the fact that they’re going to end up being the black sheep in whatever work environment they’re in, right?
Some things that many organizers have to deal with is going in and, “Oh, you want to protect lazy workers,” or, “Oh, you’re just trying to catch a check.” What advice would you have to give to people who are trying to avoid those labels, but again, just trying to find the courage to do what organizers like yourself do and help make their own part of the workplace a little bit better?
Tevita Uhatafe:
Yeah. One most personal pieces of advice I can give anybody who wants to organize their workplace is to know that you feel like you’re alone, but also know that you’re not alone. There is somebody you can call on, somebody who may not have organized in your workplace but has organized somewhere else that may have gone through the same issues you’ve gone through. Reach out, and don’t be afraid to reach out because you can’t do this alone. There’s just no way. Organizing is about finding somebody to help you alleviate the pain of having to organize a whole campaign. You know this, Vince. You can’t do it on their own. You have to find people, and you have to hold on to those relationships and reach out every now and then. Those are the things that I think I’m going to do better in 2023 as an organizer, is to reach out to organizers like yourself, Vince, and those who I know who are fighting right now.
And it’s not necessarily to give you a pointer, but just to say, “Hey, you’re not alone. I just want to thank you for the fight you’re putting in. I don’t know all the details of it, but I know that you’re making it better for somebody else because it could be a whole lot worse. Trust me.” We know just by looking at the numbers, the quarterly earnings that we are not, we’re the ones that they’re trying to enrich in life. In fact, every single time you see a quarterly and they talk about labor, there are people in accounting who are figuring out a way to make your life harder by making you work harder in those eight hours you’re working and cutting somebody else’s job. So if that doesn’t scare you enough as a young organizer to know, that, you know what, we already got shafted with 401k. We don’t have pension/ but if they’re taking all the jobs that we should be aging into when we’re into our careers where we can, I guess, work longer to keep our insurance, if you don’t have it or whatever, but those jobs are being taken away.
And it’s back to us. We have to fight for those jobs, because if they start outsourcing or taking it away and giving it to whoever, you’re worse off, we’re worse off, and we’re forced to either work hard for a long time or forced to quit and start another career. And it’s like you’re starting all over again. So just know as an organizer, you are not alone. Please, please, please, don’t do this on your own because there’s going to be.. And you know what? The organizing, burnout is real. So every now and then, just step back. Because when you come back, when we tag you back in, hey, you got to be ready.
Vince Quiles:
Yep, absolutely right. No, I think you’re 1000% right on that, and that is something… I think it’s so honestly beautiful to end on, is the fact that this is a solidarity movement, right? And you have people like yourself who are always there, who are always willing to try and share that energy. And so to anybody who’s watching this who’s considering organizing, remember that. Remember that always. Sometimes you may feel like, oh, it’s the end of the world, you don’t have any backup, but there are a lot of people out there who care. They may never know who you are, but they care, and that’s something that’s really powerful. And so I think if you have the wherewithal to recognize where you are and to recognize the opportunity to organize, it is incumbent on you to do so, just as it’s incumbent on us to make sure that we step up and support you. Tevita, thank you so much, brother. Can you tell people where they can follow you, keep up with what it is that you’re doing?
Tevita Uhatafe:
Absolutely. Yeah. You can follow me on Twitter. My handle is my first name, Tevita, last name, Uhatafe. You can follow me on Instagram @TUhatafe. And if you want to read a real badass article/interview podcast, the Real News got one with me on it. They’ll throw it on the link.
Vince Quiles:
There you go. There you have it. Again, like Tevita said, he’s done a lot of great work, and it’s been covered here at the Real News Network, so if you get a chance, go back, check that out. I can tell you as a follower of Tevita, he’s got some fire tweets, so you definitely, definitely want to give him a follow. And hey, if you’re somebody who’s feeling nervous, who’s a little bit shaky or apprehensive, I can tell you I’ve experienced one of those Tevita talks. Reach out to them, have a chat with them. So Tevita, again, thank you so much, brother. It was a very insightful conversation. Appreciate you taking the time to talk to us, and I know I’ll be talking to you again soon.
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Mortgage Works will launch a 55% buy-to-let line for new and existing customers that covers home purchases and remortgages tomorrow (March 30).
New products with 55% LTV include:
Five-year BTL loan with a fixed rate of 4.09%, with a commission of 3%
Five-year BTL deal with a fixed rate of 4.44% and a fee of £1,495.
And a five-year BTL offer with a flat rate of 4.74% with no commission.
Landlord Mortgage Works Director Dan Clinton says: “We’ve seen growing demand in the low loan-to-value market lately, so we’re excited to be able to support landlords who have significant deposits. with competitive products.
Landlords have seen the value of their monthly payments on BTL mortgages rise 75.7% on average in the UK compared to last year, according to Octane Capital analysis.
The average BTL investor has borrowed £217,364 after making a deposit of 25% of the current average property price of £289,819, according to a specialist lender.
Average monthly interest-only repayments – a class of mortgage commonly used by landlords – rose to £964 a month, a 75.7% annual increase, or £415 a month.
However, fresh figures from Zoopla show UK annual rents fell by 11.1%, or an average of £1,078 per month, in the first quarter of the year, but the online property company adds that the cost of private sectors for tenants “will continue to grow.” grow.” Surpass earnings growth” this year.
The group says private sector rents have been “high for two years”, helped by a strong job market, high immigration and limited supply.