This week, it’s 2014.
- Average house price: £188,529
- Base rate at year-end: 0.5%
- House price inflation: 7.2%
- General inflation: 1%
- Oscar Best Picture winner: 12 Years a Slave
- Best-selling album: Ed Sheeran, X
- Must-have Christmas toy: Snow Glow Elsa
- Christmas number one: Ben Haenow, Something I Need
Mortgage and housing market highlights
This year, borrowers, lenders and intermediaries witnessed the implementation of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Mortgage Market Review (MMR), one of the biggest regulatory changes the industry has seen to date. The rules were introduced to protect consumers and prevent risky lending practices among financial institutions. In a blog for Mortgage Solutions, Richard Pike, director of sales at Phoebus, predicted that the MMR would lead to more business being done through the intermediary sector as a “highly prescriptive and regulated sales process” would mean banks looked to direct more business towards brokers with an expertise in the mortgage industry.
This was apparent in the sentiment of direct-to-consumer brands such as HSBC, which decided to open up its mortgage proposition to brokers for the first time in 2014, distributing through Countrywide as a pilot offering.
However, what was noted as one of the MMR’s particular ‘stumbling blocks’ was the creation of a new type of customer, know as the mortgage prisoner. For these customers that wanted to move or remortgage, but failed to meet a lender’s new affordability calculation, meant that they were now trapped with the same mortgage and lender.
Other changes this year included Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement in the Autumn Statement to replace Stamp Duty for home buyers with a graduated scheme similar to income tax.
Also in 2014, Kensington launched its mortgage calculator app and refreshed its online application and underwriting call pledge. The lender also came up trumps at the Your Mortgage Awards winning Best Specialist Mortgage Lender.
The year’s highlights
22 January – UK unemployment falls to 7.1%, surpassing economic forecasts and placing pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates. The bank, which said it would consider an increase once unemployment reached 7%, says it has no immediate plans to introduce a raise.
29 January – During a visit to Scotland, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England says that in the event of Scottish independence, the country would need to give up some powers in return for a currency union with the United Kingdom.
6 February – PC Keith Wallis, who wrote to his MP falsely claiming to have witnessed the Plebgate incident in Downing Street, is sentenced to twelve months imprisonment.
26 February – Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, the two men convicted of the murder of Lee Rigby, are sentenced to life imprisonment.
19 March – As part of the 2014 budget, Chancellor George Osborne announces that a new £1 coin will be introduced from 2017.
29 March – The first gay weddings take place in England and Wales following a change in the law in 2013 allowing same-sex marriage.
25 April – The government has launched an inquiry after the Liverpool Echo reported that Whitehall computers were used to post offensive remarks about the Hillsborough disaster on Wikipedia pages relating to the topic.
28 April – A youth is detained by police after a female teacher is stabbed to death in front of students at a school in Leeds.
2 May – Publicist Max Clifford is jailed for eight years.
22 May – European Parliament election and local elections are held.
23 May – Local election results show a significant increase in support for the UK Independence Party
26 May – The UK Independence Party emerges ahead of Labour and the Conservatives after achieving a 27% share of votes cast for the European election.
12 June – The England national football team competes at the World Cup in Brazil. The team is eliminated after the first round, having finished bottom of their group after failing to win any of their 3 matches and gaining just 1 point.
24 June – Former News of the World editor and Downing Street Director of Communications Andy Coulson is found guilty of conspiring to hack phones.
6 July – Lewis Hamilton wins the 2014 British Grand Prix, his second British Grand Prix victory.
18 July – 10 Britons are confirmed as having been among 298 people killed in the previous day’s crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which came down over Eastern Ukraine.
5 August – The first of two televised debates between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling is held at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ahead September’s referendum on Scottish independence.
8 September – Clarence House confirms that Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a second child.
19 September – Scotland votes “No” to Scottish independence by a margin of 55.3% to 44.7%. Alex Salmond announces his resignation as First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party following the referendum.
15 October – Nicola Sturgeon will succeed Alex Salmond as leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland after she was the only candidate to put their name forward in the party’s leadership election.
31 October – With a temperature of 23.6C recorded in Gravesend, Kent and Kew Gardens, Greater London, this year’s Halloween becomes the warmest on record, surpassing the previous record of 20.0C set in 1968.
2 November – Former Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the Better Together campaign Alistair Darling announces he will step down as an MP at the next general election.
11 November – The last ceramic poppy is laid at the Tower of London memorial art installation and joins the 888,245 flowers commemorating the armistice and centenary of World War I.
19 November – A British-led Moon mission – Lunar Mission One – is announced.
28 November – Black Friday promotions spark chaos and violence in stores across the country. Police are called to at least ten supermarkets amid large crowd surges as people hunt for the best offers.
1 December – Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces he is to stand down as an MP at the next general election after 32 years.
16 December – Leader of the House of Commons William Hague sets out Conservative plans for English votes for English laws, which could see Scottish MPs prevented from voting on legislation that does not affect Scotland.
22 December – Six people are killed after a refuse lorry crashes into a group of people in Glasgow’s George Square.
29 December – The Scottish government confirms a case of Ebola being treated in a Glasgow hospital. The victim is a healthcare worker who had travelled back from Sierra Leone the previous day.
And that was the year that was 2014..
