Mortgage Strategy
1 September 2008

  • Abbey unveils low fee deals

    1 Sep 2008

    Abbey has launched a range of mortgages with fees fixed at £499. The deals are available up to £250,000 and 60% LTV and include two and three-year fixed rate products and a two-year tracker.

  • Credit licensing regime to change

    1 Sep 2008

    The Office of Fair Trading is calling for secured loans firms to prepare for changes to the consumer credit licensing regime.From October 1 firms offering debt administration or credit advice will need licences to access information from credit agencies on behalf of clients.

  • £1bn mortgage rescue scheme unveiled

    2 Sep 2008

    The Department for Communities and Local Government has unveiled a £1bn package to stimulate the housing market.

  • 2008 the hardest year of all in the secured market

    1 Sep 2008

    To say that it has been an easy month would be an understatement.

  • A darker shade of green

    1 Sep 2008

    Eco-towns are being flagged up as the way to a greener tomorrow but Peter Fall, managing director of Clear Building Survey, asks whether we shouldn't first be doing more to improve the energy efficiency of the UK's 22 million existing homes, and what role financial service providers can play

  • A good time to invest in IT

    1 Sep 2008

    The time may be right for lenders to batten down the hatches and weather the credit crisis but Andrew Levers, head of marketing and propositions at Experian's N4 Solutions, argues it is also a good time to invest in technology

  • A&L cuts fees and rates across range

    1 Sep 2008

    Alliance & Leicester has reduced rates across its mortgage range by up to 0.55%.

  • Accord cuts prime mortgage rates

    4 Sep 2008

    Accord Mortgages has taken advantage of falling swap rates and cut rates across its prime range by up to 70 basis points.

  • Accord scraps products within 24 hours

    5 Sep 2008

    Accord has pulled its prime existing borrower transfer range within 24 hours of it launching, blaming unforeseen circumstances.

  • Account managers axed at West Brom

    4 Sep 2008

    West Bromwich has confirmed it has made four account managers redundant.

  • Act now or pay later

    1 Sep 2008

    Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, believes that falling house prices are a symptom of the current market malaise rather than a cause, and calls on the government to take immediate action

  • AMI points the finger at FSA

    1 Sep 2008

    The trials and tribulations that Trustguard Credit Services' appointed representatives are suffering could be the fault of the Financial Services Authority.

  • AMI praises government plans

    2 Sep 2008

    Chris Cummings, director general of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries says while it thinks the government could do more, its proposals today are a positive and balanced response to the mortgage market's difficulties.

  • Arrears and repossession figures rock the Rock

    1 Sep 2008

    The number of arrears in the UK's residential mortgage-backed securities market continued to rise in Q2 2008 according to Standard & Poor's latest index.

  • Assetz: Stamp duty move not enough

    2 Sep 2008

    Stuart Law, managing director of Assetz, says the decision to scrap stamp duty for properties under £175,000 is just not "radical enough to bring about a change of fortune on the housing market".

  • AToM launches exclusive FTB product

    2 Sep 2008

    All Types of Mortgages has been chosen to distribute an exclusive prime product range from Kensington which offers a 90% LTV for first-time buyers.

  • AToM launches Kensington FTB product

    2 Sep 2008

    All Types of Mortgages has been chosen to distribute an exclusive prime product range from Kensington which offers a 90% LTV for first-time buyers.

  • AVMs prove their value

    1 Sep 2008

    Mark Witherspoon, CEO of UKValuation, makes the case for the wider application of automated valuation models in the current depressed housing market

  • B&B's group sales director quits

    2 Sep 2008

    Bradford & Bingley's group sales director Mark Stevens has resigned.

  • B&B's group sales director quits

    1 Sep 2008

    Bradford & Bingley's group sales director Mark Stevens has today resigned.

  • B2L healthy despite amateur fears

    1 Sep 2008

    Brokers are expecting buy-to-let landlords to continue investing in the market despite doubts about the next generation of investors.

  • Bank of England Base Rate held at 5%

    5 Sep 2008

    Once again the Bank of England has shown caution, a reluctance to makethe rate cut that is urgently needed because of its strict remit tocontrol inflation.

  • Base works with Target Group

    1 Sep 2008

    Target Group has delivered systems and technology to specialist commercial lender Base Commercial Mortgages, designed to im-prove its service levels and deliver fast lending decisions.

  • BDM resigns from master broker

    1 Sep 2008

    John Forde, BDM at Norton Broker Services, has resigned from the secured loans master broker to seek new challenges.

  • Beating inflation is our paramount aim

    1 Sep 2008

    Remember the 1970s? Starsky & Hutch, Saturday night fever and inflation. Back in 1997, one of the new Labour government's first decisions was to make the Bank of England independent and it was put in charge of fighting inflation. Memories of the huge price rises of the 1970s and 1980s were fresh in Britons' minds and there was a determination that they should never happen again.

  • Beware developers' loan schemes

    1 Sep 2008

    Developers are turning to desperate measures to shift unsold stock as they try and stop their profits sinking into oblivion - hence the pseudo-shared ownership schemes that could prove costly for consumers.

  • Blunkett backs equity release

    5 Sep 2008

    Former home secretary David Blunkett has advocated the use of equity release as a way of freeing up money in retirement.

  • BoE deputy warns crisis will drag on

    1 Sep 2008

    Charles Bean, deputy governor of the Bank of England, has warned that the current economic downturn is as bad as the situation in the 1970s and is likely to drag on for some time. Bean says he has his fingers crossed that things will improve but there is still a long way to go.

  • BoE holds rates at 5%

    4 Sep 2008

    The Bank of England has held the base rate at 5%, for the fifth consecutive month.

  • Borrowers using IVAs to stop repossession

    3 Sep 2008

    Insolvency practitioner Phillip Allen, managing director of Debt Lifeboat, says many home owners are looking towards IVAs as a way of avoiding repossession.

  • Bridgingloans.com sees record number of completions

    3 Sep 2008

    Bridging lender, Bridgingloans.com has seen increased loan completions month on month for just under one year.

  • Brokers called on to help fight fraud

    1 Sep 2008

    The Financial Services Authority is calling on brokers to help stamp out mortgage fraud. It says they should look out for shoddy documentation, doubtful income details and links between different clients such as addresses or bank accounts.

  • Brokers could be failing clients, says mform.co.uk

    2 Sep 2008

    Brokers who don't consider the entire market - including direct deals - may be missing out on the best deals for their clients, warns mform.co.uk.

  • Brokers favour societies

    1 Sep 2008

    Brokers are sending more business to building societies than ever before.

  • Brokers must rediscover the word 'no'

    1 Sep 2008

    Research commissioned by GE Money Home Lending has estimated that over the past 18 months some 3.4 million borrowers have been turned down for a mortgage at least once, with a further 450,000 applying four or more times before their application was accepted.

  • Brokers question pessimism report

    1 Sep 2008

    Brokers are unconvinced by research from Legal & General that suggests growing pessimism about the future of the mortgage market.

  • Brokers urged to check debt firms

    1 Sep 2008

    Debt solutions firm Newtomorrow.com is calling on brokers to research the companies they refer clients to for debt advice.

  • Brown unveils mortgage rescue scheme

    2 Sep 2008

    The Department for Communities and Local Government has unveiled a 1bn package to stimulate the housing market.

  • Buy-to-let lending takes a tumble

    1 Sep 2008

    Buy-to-let lending declined in the first half of 2008, with the sector being affected by the same conditions constraining the wider mortgage market according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

  • Cable slams Stamp Duty idea

    1 Sep 2008

    Vince Cable slammed the government's rumoured plans for a Stamp Duty holiday as he unveiled Liberal Democrat proposals to tackle insufficient housing stock and soaring repossession levels.

  • Calls to scrap HIP searches

    1 Sep 2008

    Industry trade bodies are calling on the government to scrap property searches within Home Information Packs to save home buyers time and money.

  • Cameron sticks to guns over Stamp Duty

    1 Sep 2008

    David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, has stuck to his guns saying that he would abolish Stamp Duty for nine out of 10 first-time buyers.

  • Charlbury expands and looks for more IT staff

    1 Sep 2008

    Mortgage technology specialist The Charlbury Group has moved into a new head office in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and extended its recruitment drive for technology staff.

  • Checkmate appoints commercial director

    2 Sep 2008

    Checkmate Mortgages has appointed Peter Stimson commercial director.

  • Checkmate to move early next year

    1 Sep 2008

    Stephen Knight, executive chairman of Checkmate Mortgages, has confirmed plans to launch the new lender in early 2009 following news that the business has received in-vestment backing to support the final launch phase.

  • City boys feel pinch and stop buying

    1 Sep 2008

    A study of the large loans market by Mortgages.co.uk has revealed a whopping 33% fall in purchases.

  • CML calls on developers to be clear on incentives

    2 Sep 2008

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders is introducing new measures to help ensure that new-build properties are valued accurately

  • CML calls on developers to be clear on incentives

    1 Sep 2008

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders is introducing new measures to help ensure that new-build properties are valued accurately.

  • CML welcomes government's housing market plans

    2 Sep 2008

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has welcomed the integrated package of housing market measures released by the government today.

  • Coles' gamble pays off

    1 Sep 2008

    The champagne life-style of Adrian Coles, secretary general of the Building Societies Association (pictured), recently got a boost.

  • Coventry beefs up offset range

    1 Sep 2008

    Brokers are praising Coventry for injecting more competition into the offset market.

  • Coventry sends itself to top of the pile

    1 Sep 2008

    A couple of weeks ago I was tempted to write a piece suggesting that the financial services industry was in danger of going the same way as UK car makers did back in the early 1970s.

  • Coventry shows the way by posting upbeat lending results

    1 Sep 2008

    Coventry, the country's fourth-largest building society, increased its net mortgage lending by 24% to £851m in the first half of 2008 - three times the company's normal market share.

  • CRM is the key to success, says AMI

    1 Sep 2008

    Brokers should sharpen up their approach to customer relationship management and use the right software if they want to succeed in the coming year, the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries warned last week.

  • Crosby deadline brought forward

    2 Sep 2008

    The long-awaited conclusion of the Crosby review into possible solutions to unblock mortgage finance has been brought forward, Mortgage Strategy can reveal.

  • David disregards the dispossessed

    1 Sep 2008

    Tory leader David Cameron is as anxious about his party being on-message as Tony Blair was in his days in Downing Street. The evidence is a summer reading list of 38 books for Tory MPs which shadow Foreign Office minister Keith Simpson has prepared on his leader's behalf.

  • Defaqto calls government plan "eye catching"

    2 Sep 2008

    Research firm DeFaqto has called the government's mortgage rescue scheme a series of "eye catching announcements aimed at kick-starting the bottom of the market".

  • Divided, we fall

    1 Sep 2008

    Cicero analyst John Rowland says time is running out for the industry to do something positive about the Crosby review, adding that the political sands are shifting rapidly with a Cabinet reshuffle expected. He says the industry has failed to speak with a united voice during this critical time

  • Division over mortgage rescue scheme

    2 Sep 2008

    The mortgage rescue scheme proposed as part of the government’s raft of measures to tackle the slump in the housing market has been met with a divided response from brokers and trade bodies.

  • Don't believe the hype about a crash

    1 Sep 2008

    Headlines are designed to catch the eye and draw readers into the story. By definition they are sensationalist to arouse interest. But the danger is that readers who simply scan the headlines will get the wrong impression about what is happening.

  • Edeus extends Golden Goodbye

    2 Sep 2008

    Edeus has extended its 10% cashback offer to encourage more of its borrowers to remortgage away to another lender.

  • Em- unveils exclusives

    2 Sep 2008

    Em-financial has launched exclusives with Kensington and Platform Homeloans to celebrate its retention on both of the lenders' distribution panels.

  • Equity Release Club adds to panel

    1 Sep 2008

    Equity Release Club has added reversion specialists Home & Capital and Dunfermline to its panel. It now offers access to seven home reversion and nine lifetime mortgage providers.

  • Equity release is SAFER for brokers

    1 Sep 2008

    Specialist Advisers for Equity Release is the name of the trade body launched today for brokers.

  • Evaluate boosts lender numbers

    1 Sep 2008

    Evaluate has added Bank of Ireland, Woolwich and Chelsea to its lender offering.The move is part of its efforts to deliver a whole of market mortgage sourcing system to brokers later this year.

  • Evaluate boosts technology personnel

    3 Sep 2008

    Evaluate Technologies has boosted its number of technology personnel with the appointment of seven additional members of staff.

  • Financial hurricane gathers momentum

    1 Sep 2008

    While another hurricane threatens the lives and property of people in the Caribbean and across the southern United States, here a financial hurricane is continuing to gather momentum in the UK.

  • Firms must add value and create opportunity

    2 Sep 2008

    It may appear that UNIFi has been very quiet over the summer months, what summer you might say.

  • FISA compliance officer loses job

    1 Sep 2008

    Clive Edwards, a compliance officer at the Finance Industry Standards Association, has been made redundant.

  • Free FTB loans could put squeeze on smaller housebuilders

    2 Sep 2008

    Smaller housebuilders could be squeezed out of the market under government plans announced today to offer free loans to first-time buyers of new build property .

  • Freehold founder launches equity release firm

    1 Sep 2008

    Paul Brett, founder of the Freehold packager association has launched equity release firm, Wakeswood Financial.

  • Freehold founder launches Wakeswood Financial

    1 Sep 2008

    Paul Brett, founder of the Freehold packager association has launched equity release firm, Wakeswood Financial.

  • FSA comparison site doesn't give clients all the facts

    1 Sep 2008

    I recently advised a client to take out a two-year fixed rate product at 5.74%. At the client's request I emailed him the Key Facts Illustration before visiting him. He clicked on the FSA link shown on the KFI, which took him to its product comparison website.

  • FSA fines broker £63,000

    4 Sep 2008

    The Financial Services Authority has fined Approved Financial Solutions £63,000 for failing to give suitable advice.

  • FSA research may help equity release brokers

    1 Sep 2008

    Bridgewater Equity Release has highlighted the latest consumer research from the Financial Services Authority which could help brokers advising in the sector.

  • FSA tables are misleading

    1 Sep 2008

    The Financial Services Authority's mortgage comparison tables may do more harm than good when it comes to consumers choosing the right deals.

  • FSA threatens lenders over change in charges

    1 Sep 2008

    The Financial Services Authority has lenders in its sights over changes made to borrowers' mortgage charges post-completion.

  • GMAC cuts 5,000 jobs in USA

    5 Sep 2008

    GMAC, parent company of GMAC-RFC, is cutting 5,000 jobs from its ResCap business and closing 200 branches in the US.

  • Goldsmith Williams teams up with Financial Network

    1 Sep 2008

    Conveyancing firm, Goldsmith Williams is to provide conveyancing support to members of Financial Network.

  • Good brokers could end up paying for cowboys

    3 Sep 2008

    Good brokers could be paying for the few mavericks in the industry if individual regulation comes through, says Julie Alderson, director of Management Services 2000.

  • Good results for Rightmove

    1 Sep 2008

    Rightmove has revealed a 58% rise in underlying operating profits for the first half of 2008. It has also seen its membership increase by 5%.

  • Government commits £400m to boost social housing

    2 Sep 2008

    The government has devoted £400m to support affordable housing schemes across the UK.

  • Government to offer free FTB loans on new-builds

    2 Sep 2008

    The government has unveiled plans today to offer free five-year loans to first-time buyers for new-build properties.

  • Gremlins delay BoS ranges

    1 Sep 2008

    Last Friday Bank of Scotland was forced to suspend the launch of a buy-to-let and self-cert range due to IT problems. It could not say when the products would go live. A spokesman for BoS says: "Some products had the wrong fee attached but we are working on it."

  • Gross lending falls by over £1bn, reports BSA

    1 Sep 2008

    The Building Societies Association has revealed a £1.1bn drop in gross lending year-on-year.

  • Halifax reports 10.9% drop in house prices

    4 Sep 2008

    Halifax has reported a 1.8% fall in house prices from July to August 2008, taking the average house price down to £174,000, a fall of 10.9% from last year.

  • Halifax sees 1.8% fall in house prices

    4 Sep 2008

    Halifax has reported a 1.8% fall in house prices from July to August 2008, taking the average house price down to £174,000, a fall of 10.9% from last year.

  • Hamptons aiming for chain reaction

    1 Sep 2008

    Hamptons International has launched a scheme to remove obstacles in home buying chains and help sellers struggling to move.

  • Hamptons launches property chain service

    1 Sep 2008

    Hamptons International is launching The Hamptons Exchange a service that connects property sellers struggling in the current market.

  • Harpenden appoints new chairman

    5 Sep 2008

    Roger Smith, chairman of Harpenden has retired, with vice chairman Michael Willis taking his place at the mutual.

  • Harpenden chairman retires

    5 Sep 2008

    Roger Smith, chairman of Harpenden has retired, with vice chairman Michael Willis taking his place at the mutual.

  • HBOS stakes out its position as market leader

    1 Sep 2008

    In its interim trading statement at the beginning of August Barclays claimed a 26% market share of net new mortgage lending compared with 6% at the same time last year - a position HBOS is not taking lightly.

  • HBOS will fight for pole position

    1 Sep 2008

    Joe Higgins, head of HBOS Mortgages, says the lending giant traditionally takes between 20% and 25% of market share and is unlikely to give up this mantle lightly. Speaking in Edinburgh late last month, he challenged the industry to do more to help first-time buyers. HBOS has seen its market share of first-timer mortgages rise by 50% in the past 12 months. He added that he was concerned about the legacy lenders would leave behind if they failed the sector in this difficult time.

  • Hipstar burns out

    1 Sep 2008

    Hipstar, the home information pack provider conceived by Network Data's Richard Griffiths some three years ago, has been placed into administration. This has resulted in the loss of 22 jobs including that of chief executive Tim Jones.

  • Hodge Equity Release offers free workshops

    4 Sep 2008

    Equity release provider Hodge Equity Release, has appointed InsynergiUK to provide training at its one day workshops throughout October.

  • Hodge offers ERC members £150 client cashback

    1 Sep 2008

    Equity Release Club has teamed up with Hodge Equity Release to offer members an exclusive £150 client cashback deal.

  • HomeBuy Direct Scheme

    3 Sep 2008

    Having had more time to peruse the governments proposals for the housing market yesterday there has been much discussion particularly about the Homebuy Direct Scheme and it does not quite add up.

  • House price fall the worst since 2001

    1 Sep 2008

    House prices fell for the eleventh month in a row in August, marking the lowest year-on-year fall since 2001.

  • How should my client deal with shortfall payments?

    5 Sep 2008

    CAROLINE HAVERS, PARTNER AT SALANS

  • I love it when a plan comes together

    1 Sep 2008

    The majority of readers may dismiss my belief that now is the time to put to bed your 12-month business plan for 2009.

  • Ingard to take over M2i

    4 Sep 2008

    Mortgage 2000 is transferring the ownership and running of its M2i compliance service to Ingard Intermediary Services.

  • Irish Slump hits agents and brokers

    1 Sep 2008

    With house prices in the Irish Republic falling like autumn leaves and residential home building down by almost 40% construction workers have been joining dole queues in their thousands.

  • It's all Irish at Nationwide

    1 Sep 2008

    News that Nationwide is to launch into Ireland's savings market early next year, subject to the usual approvals, could be confusing for Irish consumers given that the Republic has its very own Nationwide Building Society.

  • It's time to cut the market some slack

    1 Sep 2008

    It's going to be another tough week in the City, especially for the nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, who meet on Wednesday and Thursday to decide whether or not to cut the base rate.

  • Katie Tucker joins mortgageforce

    2 Sep 2008

    Former John Charcol employee Katie Tucker has been appointed to the role of technical manager at mortgageforce.

  • Keep tenants in repossession loop, says Shelter

    1 Sep 2008

    Shelter is calling on lenders repossessing buy-to-let properties to warn tenants about the situation so they don't end up on the street.

  • Kensington launches five-year fixed rate deals

    2 Sep 2008

    Kensington has launched a range of five-year fixed rates, after research found an increase in demand from brokers for the deals.

  • Kensington to bolster panel

    1 Sep 2008

    Kensington's decision last week to increase its packager panel could lead other lenders to follow suit, Vic Jannels, chairman of All Types of Mortgages, predicts.

  • L&G launches exclusive with Accord

    4 Sep 2008

    Legal & General Mortgage Club is launching two exclusives two-year fixed rate deals with Accord Mortgages.

  • Lack of mortgage funding still major issue warns CML

    2 Sep 2008

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has welcomed the integrated package of housing market measures but warns that the lack of mortgage funding is still a major issue.

  • Leaks due soon on Crosby Report recommendations

    7 Sep 2008

    On the Andrew Marr show this morning Ed Balls said he understood the Crosby Report was on The Chancellor's desk. On that basis we ought to start getting leaks soon from the Government on any proposals they want to float as being worth introducing, assuming of course there are some, bearing in mind the interim report warned the recommendation might be to do nothing.

  • Leeds launches lock-in free two-year fix

    3 Sep 2008

    Leeds is claiming to have launched the only two-year fixed rate mortgage in the market with no lock-ins.

  • Lenders called on to play their part with ISMI reform

    2 Sep 2008

    The Citizens Advice Bureau says it's vital that lenders now play their part and treat borrowers sympathetically following the government's changes to Income Support for Mortgage Interest.

  • Less blunderbuss, more rifle

    1 Sep 2008

    Julien Holmes, managing director of Crown Mortgage Management, says that the Grim Reaper is visiting the commercial property market but not all firms are victims, so lenders must look carefully before rejecting applications

  • Let's work together

    1 Sep 2008

    Chris Cummings, director-general of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, calls for unity across the industry with regard to the Crosby review but as John Rowland points out on page 20, the window of opportunity may have closed

  • Lib Dems lash out at Brown's rescue plan

    2 Sep 2008

    The Liberal Democrats say today's mortgage rescue package is "too little too late" when it comes to helping struggling borrowers.

  • LV= joins Intrinsic panel

    1 Sep 2008

    LV= has been added to Intrinsic Financial Services' panel of equity release providers, giving the network's 1,300 members access to its products.

  • LV=integrates with Trigold

    1 Sep 2008

    Trigold has integrated with mortgage and lifestyle protection specialist LV=.

  • M2000 sheds M2i

    4 Sep 2008

    Mortgage 2000 is transferring the ownership and running of its M2i compliance service to Ingard Intermediary Services.

  • Market Watch

    1 Sep 2008

    Swaps edged up slightly last week but are hugely down on a month or so ago. Meanwhile, three-month LIBOR has fallen to 5.75%.

  • Merrill axes Wave

    3 Sep 2008

    Rumours are rife in the industry that Merrill Lynch has shut down its remaining UK specialist mortgage lender Wave.

  • Merrill makes disastrous losses

    1 Sep 2008

    Merrill Lynch has posted around $14bn in after-tax losses in the past year. When adjusted for inflation, this amounts to around 25% of the profits it has made in its 36 years as a public company, The Financial Times reported last week.

  • Mixed predictions for housing market

    1 Sep 2008

    Unsurprisingly, the mortgage trade press has been awash with predictions about when the housing market will bottom out and take a turn for the better. But I'm none the wiser based on some of the more extreme views expressed by industry commentators.

  • Mixed reviews over government plans

    2 Sep 2008

    The mortgage industry has had mixed views to the government's rescue plans for the housing market, revealed today.

  • M-Next hikes GI commission

    1 Sep 2008

    Mortgage Next has upped commission rates for appointed representatives who arrange general insurance via its online system.Commission rates for household, buy-to-let, building and contents andunemployment insurance have risen from 15% to 20%.

  • More HIP casualties expected as OpenBook shuts

    1 Sep 2008

    Home Information Pack providers are warning that the closure of Hipstar and OpenBook are ominous signs for the future of the sector.

  • Mortgage approvals plunge 65%, says BBA

    1 Sep 2008

    Approvals for house purchases plummeted 65% to 22,448 in July this year compared with July 2007.

  • Mortgage Pressure Builds

    1 Sep 2008

    Pressure intensified today on our poor chancellor after he made some interesting comments about the state of the economic environment.

  • Moveme.com calls for housing shake-up

    1 Sep 2008

    Home move service Moveme.com is urging for a much needed shake-up in the housing market ahead of the governments range of emergency measures expected tomorrow.

  • Movers and shakers

    1 Sep 2008

    'UL Mortgages' puts Hoff in the hotseat while previous contender Pym gets the top job at B&B

  • MPC

    1 Sep 2008

    Melanie Bien, Director, Savills Private Finance

  • N4 Solutions launches recruitment drive

    2 Sep 2008

    N4 Solutions today announced that it is launching a new recruitment programme for IT specialists.

  • Net borrowing rises in July but approvals plummet

    1 Sep 2008

    The Bank of England has unveiled an increase in net lending to individuals in July, rising from £3.1bn in June to £3.2bn July 2008.

  • NLA to source best BTL deals for members

    1 Sep 2008

    The National Landlords Association is making daily checks across the mortgage market to find the most suitable products for its members.

  • Nothing mysterious here

    1 Sep 2008

    This summer a Which? mystery shopping exercise allegedly found 90% of mortgage brokers wanting when it came to delivering advice and in this new occasional feature by Martin Reay we explore how such exercises can be valuable tools for lenders too

  • NR repossessions revealed

    1 Sep 2008

    Research from Standard & Poor's reveals Northern Rock is responsible for originating the mortgages for one in 13 properties repossessed in the first half of 2008.

  • Olympic success' feel-good factor

    1 Sep 2008

    I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's great to have good news to report. The television and newspapers are full of Team GB's Olympic success and the country is basking in the reflected glory.

  • Orbiter pre-registration goes live

    3 Sep 2008

    Pre-registration for Orbiter's online sourcing and compliance service has gone live.

  • Order of the phoenix firms is growing

    1 Sep 2008

    The phrase 'phoenix firm' may conjure up images of rebirth but many in the mortgage and loan industries wish these companies would stay dead and buried.

  • Paaleads.com launches into Europe

    1 Sep 2008

    Lead distribution company paa-leads.com has launched an overseas mortgage leads product which will focus on six markets - Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Germany, with destinations such as Cyprus, Bulgaria, Morocco and Dubai being added later in the year.

  • Pink offers proc fee incentive

    5 Sep 2008

    Appointed representatives and directly authorised members of Pink Home Loans will be paid an extra 75 on selected product transfers.

  • Pink rolls out broker incentives

    5 Sep 2008

    Appointed representatives and directly authorised members of Pink Home Loans will be paid an extra £75 for selected product transfers.

  • Plans for single packager alliance scrapped

    2 Sep 2008

    John Rice, managing director of the Regulatory Alliance of Mortgage Packagers, has shelved plans for a single packager alliance and is focusing instead on growing its own membership.

  • RBS and NatWest cut mortgage rates

    1 Sep 2008

    Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest are cutting directly marketed mortgage rates by up to 0.35%.

  • RBSIP launches new rates

    5 Sep 2008

    RBS Intermediary Partners is rolling out rates on a number of its fixed rate and tracker mortgages from September 6.

  • Reasons to be cheerful

    1 Sep 2008

    Sally Laker, managing director of Mortgage Intelligence, acknowledges that the latest wave of lenders' financial results makes depressing reading but still believes there is cause to smile

  • Reptiles and lenders

    2 Sep 2008

    In the natural world species that can adapt to change thrive.

  • Salans office added to CAL panel

    3 Sep 2008

    Online conveyancing distributor, Conveyancing Alliance, has added Salan's satellite office in Thetford to its solicitor panel.

  • Salt withdraws from residential market

    5 Sep 2008

    Derbyshire subsidiary Salt has withdrawn from the residential mortgage market.

  • Scotland fares better than the rest of the UK

    1 Sep 2008

    The mortgage market in Scotland has contracted in the past 12 months but it is still faring better than the rest of the UK according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders Scotland.

  • Servicers can ease the pain

    1 Sep 2008

    Andrew Jones, risk director at HML, explores the growing arrears and repossessions problem and looks at ways of mitigating the risks for lenders and the pain for borrowers

  • Show us the money

    1 Sep 2008

    Robert Jones, partner in the commercial dispute resolution unit at law firm Weightmans, reflects on a recent court case that has given comfort to receivers in the way they can sell properties to settle outstanding debts

  • Skipton launches Mutually Exclusive scheme

    3 Sep 2008

    Skipton is offering 95% LTV to first-time buyers that are members of the society, through its new Mutually Exclusive scheme.

  • Skipton offers 95% LTV FTB deal

    3 Sep 2008

    Skipton is offering 95% LTV to first-time buyers that have accounts with the society, through its new Mutually Exclusive scheme.

  • Stamp Duty Changes - More Work Needed

    2 Sep 2008

    My alarm went off at 4.30am this morning as I ambled bleary eyed to the BBC 5 live studios in Bristol for a crack of dawn comment on the governments latest "fightback" proposals for the housing market.

  • Stamp Duty threshold raised

    2 Sep 2008

    Chancellor Alistair Darling has temporarily increased the Stamp Duty threshold to £175,000 for one year.

  • Stamp Duty threshold raised

    2 Sep 2008

    Chancellor Alistair Darling has temporarily increased the Stamp Duty threshold to £175,000 for one year.

  • Standard Life cuts rates across Freestyle range

    5 Sep 2008

    Standard Life Bank has cut rates across its Freestyle flexible mortgage ranges.

  • Sub-prime customers have been hit hard by crunch

    1 Sep 2008

    Until July last year the sub-prime market was a growing sector offering 8,148 residential mortgage products compared with just 1,252 today.

  • Sub-prime deals down over 80%

    1 Sep 2008

    Sub-prime deals have been slashed by over 80% since July 2007, says Moneyfacts.co.uk. The website adds that only 13 lenders now operate in the sector, down from 36 last summer.

  • Summer at a glance

    1 Sep 2008

    An Ernst & Young Item Club report in July likened the state of the economy to a horror movie but have things really been unravelling that badly for Pandora Brown and his truly awful Cabinet

  • SWB reports healthy profits

    1 Sep 2008

    Scottish Widows Bank has reported pre-tax profits of £16.4m - a 12% year-on-year rise. Net mortgage growth for the first half of 2008 was £800m, with total mortgage balances of £6.6bn. SWB says its credit quality is strong, with just 0.23% of its book two or more months in arrears.

  • Takeover talks between Elephant and FTP abandoned

    1 Sep 2008

    Reverse takeover talks between Elephant Loans & Mortgages and Financial Trade Partnership have come to an end.

  • Target Practice

    1 Sep 2008

    Self-cert mortgages have long been the bete noire of the mortgage industry. Even in the days of self-regulation and the gentlemanly rules of the Mortgage Code Compliance Board, self-cert was looked on by many as a recipe for disaster.

  • The devil is in the detail of council mortgage plan

    1 Sep 2008

    I've been reading with great interest the national press coverage of local authority chiefs calling for the power to offer competitive mortgages in an effort to rescue the housing market.

  • The dynamic duo strike again

    4 Sep 2008

    So the dynamic duo, Gordy and Ali (the one with the black eyebrows) have devised a cunning plan to save the housing market and the rest of the economy.

  • The Mortgage Mole

    1 Sep 2008

    Muppet show Mole was delighted to hear his furry friends at The Muppet Show are making a comeback with a new film and TV series.

  • The Mortgage Mole

    1 Sep 2008

    Pants With Lending Strategy editor John Murray and his wife Pam in Edinburgh to enjoy IF's hospitality too, there was bound to be trouble. The mortgage market's only official anarchist soon found himself falling foul of the law after wildly protesting at its attempts to shut down a dancing troupe on the city's Royal Mile.

  • The Mortgage Rescue Plan: What we think

    3 Sep 2008

    What a week it has been for our government. Saturday saw chancellor Alistair Darling forgetting Prime Minister Gordon Brown's tag line that "the economy is resilient and so what if it's not we've just won lots of nice gold medals" by telling the people of Britain how it really is.

  • The Olympics saved my summer

    1 Sep 2008

    Bad news, bad weather, bad television and pearls of wisdom from the Financial Services Authority on repossession and treating customers fairly conspired to make it a miserable summer for Philip Tebbatt

  • The qualifications maze

    1 Sep 2008

    The proliferation of academic, vocational and professional qualifications now passes all understanding - or it did until we invited Anne Kiem, dean of further education at ifs School of Finance, to show us the light

  • Three-year fixes back in favour

    1 Sep 2008

    Home owners are three times more likely to opt for a three-year fixed rate mortgage, compared with six months ago, shows research by Abbey for Intermediaries.

  • Time for a new lending model

    1 Sep 2008

    Gary Styles, strategy, risk and economics director at Hometrack, argues that limiting lending combined with an increased emphasis on retail saving can only be a short-term solution to the market's difficulties

  • Time for sex, truth and measuring tape

    1 Sep 2008

    I'm no prude. In fact, I rather approve of the use of the female form to sell property. Glossy sales brochures advertising new developments with swimming pools always display young women in swimsuits rather than podgy 50 year old men such as myself.

  • Time to kiss the property owning democracy goodbye

    1 Sep 2008

    Inspired by something that Stephen Karle says in our Strategy interview this issue (see pages 27-29) I thought I'd devote this column to the death of owner-occupation and predict a return to 1900 when 90% of us lived in rented housing.

  • Times are hard enough without unqualified pundits pedalling doom and gloom stories

    1 Sep 2008

    As a mortgage broker trying to make an honest living in a difficult market, I'm writing because I am sick of reading articles by people who with a little research think they can comment on the market. Others who are even less qualified have also jumped on the doom and gloom bandwagon, thus tainting the entire industry.

  • Top Tory outlines bold IHT reform

    2 Sep 2008

    The Conservative Party is thought to be planning a £2m Inheritance Tax exemption proposal.

  • Trigold to hold training days

    5 Sep 2008

    Trigold is embarking on six new dates for its broker Business Academy events.

  • Trio of products to updatesearches

    1 Sep 2008

    OneSearch Direct has launched three products to enable buyers to update property searches included in Home Information Packs.

  • Two-year fixes sink to pre-credit crunch levels

    5 Sep 2008

    The average two-year fixed rate has dropped to the same level seen prior to the credit crunch, says Moneyfacts.co.uk.

  • UK will sink into recession this year, says OECD

    3 Sep 2008

    The UK will be in the grip of a recession by the end of the year, predicts the latest economic forecast from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.

  • Unsold houses dilemma faces Irish banks

    1 Sep 2008

    The property slump has raised a dilemma for Irish banks - what to do about developers who are un-able to service the large loans they have taken out because they can't sell their houses at what they re-gard as viable prices.

  • West Brom boss puts community on the agenda

    1 Sep 2008

    Stephen Karle joined the management team at West Bromwich Building Society as part of a rescue package and did so well that he's now chief executive - and he has a mission to make a difference

  • What we can learn from the Olympics

    1 Sep 2008

    What an Olympics it was for the UK. You have to admire our athletes, particularly our cycling, sailing and rowing teams.

  • Yorkshire Bank extends fee-free remortgage incentive

    3 Sep 2008

    Yorkshire Bank is continuing to waive arrangement fees for new customers who remortgage to its Rapid Repay and Flexible Repay mortgages in September 2008.

  • Yorkshire launches conveyancing comparison site

    1 Sep 2008

    The Yorkshire is launching a price comparison site for conveyancing services made up of a national network of over 170 solicitors.

  • YouGov identifies NR failings

    1 Sep 2008

    Lack of communication from Northern Rock management and the tripartite authority exacerbated consumer fears and led to the run on the bank, research from YouGov reveals.

  • Your Shout

    1 Sep 2008

    David HollingworthMortgage specialist, London & Country

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