Deposit biggest hurdle to home buying
08 Feb 2012
Northern Rock's roots go back to the 1850s in Newcastle. The Society became the tenth largest building society in the UK after its merger with the Sunderland-based North of England Building Society in 1994.
Following the credit crunch in late 2007, Northern Rock faced an extremely difficult period as tits exposure to risk saw consumer confidence and share prices tumble. The Bank of England stepped in to loan the bank billions of pounds. A credit crunch casualty,
Northern Rock was briefly the subject of a fierce bidding war between major potential investors, before being nationalised by the Labour government.
