Enterpreneur

Three lenders have returned to offering mortgages on small deposits, giving a boost to first-time buyers who have grappled with a credit crunch in recent weeks.

Nationwide, Coventry Building Society and Co-operative Bank’s Platform will offer loans for those with as little as a 10 per cent deposit.

Nationwide will bring back 90 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages from Monday, just a month after withdrawing similar products. The UK’s second-largest mortgage lender said its decision was in response to the chancellor’s stamp duty holiday for properties valued up to £500,000.

The return of 90 per cent home loans will raise concern at the Bank of England, which is responsible for financial stability, and the Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates businesses, because of the possibility of negative equity. This is when the value of the loan becomes greater than that of the property.

Henry Jordan, head of mortgages at Nationwide, said:

Europe’s second highest court will deliver a verdict this week on Apple’s appeal against a €13 billion bill for back taxes, which has been a nagging sore in transatlantic relations.

The American technology giant has been fighting a 2016 ruling from the European Commission (EC) that the Irish government had given it an undue tax benefit in breach of state aid rules.

Brussels accused Ireland of striking a “sweetheart” deal with Apple, allowing the iPhone maker to pay substantially less corporation tax than other businesses. The EC ordered Ireland to recover the illegal aid, plus years of interest.

Apple, whose international headquarters are in Cork, and the Irish state challenged the ruling and have denied coming to an agreement to cap its tax liabilities. During its appeal hearing in September, lawyers for Apple argued that the order defied “reality and common sense”.

The EC’s lawyers argued that Ireland gave Apple

Aston Martin’s first DBX rolled off the production line of its St Athan factory in South Wales yesterday with the new SUV marking a ‘milestone moment’ for the British luxury marque.

Priced from £158,000, the first Aston to be ‘Made in Wales’ is also its first SUV and considered a make or break model for the British manufacturer, which has recently endured a turbulent financial period, including a £119million loss in the first quarter of 2020.

Expected to be Aston’s biggest seller and designed to be exported around the world – including to markets where all-weather capability is required – first DBX customer deliveries start later this month.

Around 80 per cent of production is expected to be exported with huge demanded expected from foreign markets including the US and China.

The first car off the line comes just over four years since Aston Martin announced its investment in the

Almost one in three employees are planning to keep working from home after the coronavirus restrictions end, according to a survey.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the government ordering people to work from home if possible, and many are still doing this.

A survey of 3,000 adults by Halifax found that many saw the new lifestyle as an “environmental wake-up call” and a chance to do something about climate change.

The research shows that the majority of those surveyed said they did not expect things to ever go back to normal, with most saying that they were hopeful the world could use the change to tackle the climate emergency.

Four out of five of those surveyed thought remote working was a way to reduce emissions

Andy Mason, Halifax mortgage director, said: “It’s clear that for many going back to ‘business as usual’ isn’t going to be an option and instead