Mortgage Strategy
14 September 2009
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60 Seconds with.....Stephen Knight
14 Sep 2009
What’s happening at Checkmate?We are holding in launch minus three months readiness mode. Precisely when we launch will be decided by an institution that finally wants to put new money into the mortgage market. We are putting ourselves in the position of being the obvious choice for such an organisation. We are currently in conversation with 15 potential lenders but these talks are moving slowly because the market is recovering slowly.
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Abbey and A&L cut three-year rates
17 Sep 2009
Abbey for Intermediaries and Alliance & Leicester Intermediary Sales have cut rates on some of their three-year fixed rate and tracker deals.
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Abbey and Nationwide get tough on incomplete broker applications
14 Sep 2009
Abbey and Nationwide read the riot act to brokers last week, saying that incomplete applications will be sent back.
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Abbey should tell us what it wants rather than pass the buck
14 Sep 2009
I recently received an email from Abbey in which it states that "we have analysed our applications over the last few months and noticed that a number are received without all the required documentation. This delays the processing of your applications and also impacts on our ability to process fully packaged cases.
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Abbey used to be broker-focussed but now it's a joke
14 Sep 2009
What planet is Abbey on? It certainly does not live in the real world. The purpose of my letter is to outline my frustration at the way Abbey is treating brokers and our customers.
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Aldermore appoints risk director
14 Sep 2009
Aldermore has appointed Steve Barry as risk director, with responsibility for managing all aspects of risk within the bank including credit, operational and business strategy risk.
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AMI appoints Sesame's John Cupis to its board
14 Sep 2009
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has appointed John Cupis, managing director of mortgages and general insurance at Sesame, to its board.
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AMI hits out at ASA ruling on NatWest adverts
17 Sep 2009
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has hit out at the Advertising Standards Authority's decision not to uphold the complaint lodged against NatWest's MoneySense adverts.
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Arrears and repossessions fall in Q2
15 Sep 2009
The latest figures from the Financial Services Authority show the number of new repossessions and arrears cases fell in Q2 2009.
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ARs won't benefit from Network Data HQ sale
14 Sep 2009
Network Data's former headquarters Botleys Mansion is understood to have been sold for around £3.8m, dashing hopes that former appointed representatives will receive any of their owed commission payments from the sale.
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ASA bans British Insurance ad
16 Sep 2009
The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a direct mailing promotion from Towergate owned British Insurance, for being misleading.
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ASA rejects Natwest MoneySense complaint
16 Sep 2009
The Advertising Standards Authority has decided not to uphold the complaint against the NatWest MoneySense adverts over claims to offer “free, impartial, financial guidance.”
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Average first-time buyer deposit decreasing
15 Sep 2009
Mortgageforce has found that the deposits demanded by lenders have been dropping month by month, decreasing from 28.6% in June to 25.4% in July and 21.25% in August.
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Benefit system threat to landlords
14 Sep 2009
Landlords are facing repossession as a result of the new housing benefit payment system, the Local Housing Allowance, according to the National Landlords Association.
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Birthday bumps
14 Sep 2009
Eight years ago this week the first weekly magazine for mortgage brokers was launched. Mortgage Strategy burst onto the market at a time when the boom period was just beginning and the good times were set to roll.
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Birthday Wishes To Mortgage Strategy
15 Sep 2009
This week marks the 8th anniversary of Mortgage Strategy entering the market. During that time the Conservative Party has begun to look electable, Prince Charles has married Camilla Parker-Bowles and England’s cricketers have won the Ashes twice. So clearly anything can happen in eight years.
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Brilliant Mortgages sees surge in recruitment
17 Sep 2009
Brilliant Mortgages, the mortgage club which is part of Exclusive Connections, says it is signing up new members at the rate of 200 per month.
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Broker learns of FSA ban through MS Online
14 Sep 2009
A mortgage broker whose permissions were stripped from him by the Financial Services Authority for non-payment of fees says the news came to him via Mortgage Strategy Online.
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Broker loses permissions over lack of cash
16 Sep 2009
The Financial Services Authority has removed the permissions of Bridgend based Talking Mortgage Solutions for lack of capital.
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Broker product numbers hit seven-year low
15 Sep 2009
The availability of mortgage products continued its steady decline into August with the number of products available to brokers slumping to a seven-year low.
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Brokers warn their children off career in advice
17 Sep 2009
Only a minority of brokers would encourage their children to follow in their footsteps and pursue a career in financial advice, it has emerged.
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Buildstore teams up with Melton
14 Sep 2009
The Melton Mowbray Building Society is joining forces with self-build and renovation specialist BuildStore, to provide mortgages for local people building their own homes.
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Campaign to help at-risk owners
14 Sep 2009
Housing minister John Healey last week launched a national campaign to help struggling home owners take control of their finances and avoid repossession.
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CFS' interim profits leap 11% as GI and lending divisions perform well
14 Sep 2009
The Co-Operative Financial Services has posted an interim profit of £81.4m, an 11% increase on the same time last year.
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Clear Finance Solutions partners with Promise
18 Sep 2009
Clear Finance Solutions has partnered with Promise Solutions to give its brokers access to secured and unsecured loan business.
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Clubs better value than networks? What nonsense
14 Sep 2009
I am writing with regard to the letter published in the August 31 edition of Mortgage Strategy from Robert Winfield, managing director of Chartwell Funding, entitled 'AR numbers are not falling, they've gone independent'.
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Coreco partners with estate agent chain
18 Sep 2009
Douglas & Gordon, the London-based estate agency chain, has agreed a deal with Coreco for the brokerage to provide mortgage advice to the estate agent’s prospective buyers.
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Crown Mortgage Management agrees recapitalisation deal
14 Sep 2009
Crown Mortgage Management and Forum Partners have signed an agreement involving the recapitalisation of the servicing operations of the Crown Group.
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Cutting the base rate may promote lending
14 Sep 2009
The Bank of England base rate was held at 0.5% last week for the sixth month in a row, but the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries says another cut may be the only way to reignite lending.
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Dinosaur networks find it hard to survive crises
14 Sep 2009
With reference to the interview with Pink Home Loans' managing director David Copland (Mortgage Strategy September 7), I agree with his comments on the vulnerability of certain networks.
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Evaluate agrees deals with broker firms
15 Sep 2009
Evaluate Technologies has agreed partnership deals with ten broker and network firms to white-label Evaluate’s online mortgage comparison service.
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Fewer new loans at above 90% LTV
18 Sep 2009
The level of new lending at above 90% LTV has fallen since the beginning of the year, despite signs that the housing market is stabilising.
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Financial IT specialist launched
14 Sep 2009
Michael Schaefer, a former director at Chase de Vere Mortgage Management, has launched technology firm Cirrus ICT.
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Fine thing
14 Sep 2009
It seems that hardly a day goes by without the Financial Services Authority dishing out yet another fine to a mortgage broker and while Mole is all for the regulator taking action where it needs to, he was somewhat concerned after listening to one intermediary recently.
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First Direct launches an offset tracker mortgage
14 Sep 2009
First Direct has launched an offset tracker deal that tracks the Bank of England base rate plus 2.29% for the life ofthe loan. The product is currently priced at 2.79% with a £999 application fee and a maximum LTV of 60%.
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FOS names firms with most mortgage complaints
15 Sep 2009
The Financial Ombudsman Service has released for the first time complaints relating to individual financial businesses, showing the worst offenders for mortgage complaints, with 41% of all complaints upheld.
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Four arrested in £9m mortgage fraud
15 Sep 2009
Four men have been arrested by the City of London Police force in connection with a £9m mortgage fraud against a major insurance company.
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Fraud - almost everyone's been involved
14 Sep 2009
What would you do if you heard the three-minute warning? You know, the three minutes you have before you get nuked. It's the moment you most don't want to experience. Would you run towards the missus and hold her tight? Grab the kids and hug them? Phone a relative or friend? Or would you grab the files you have hidden under your desk because you know they're a bit wrong and you don't want anyone to get their hands on them even though you're going to be dead soon?
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Fraud rides on the capitalist express
14 Sep 2009
"These days people borrow without the slightest thought, and from the very start they have no intention of settling their debts. Consequently they bring hardship to their creditors and invent every manner of falsehood."
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Fresh warning about commercial tricksters
14 Sep 2009
The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers has renewed its warning to residential mortgage brokers concerning commercial loan fraudsters.
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FSA bans mortgage broker
15 Sep 2009
The Financial Services Authority has banned mortgage broker Arthur Kirk, trading as Grosvenor Mortgage Advice Centre, for failing to establish proper systems and controls at his business based in Manchester.
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Gross mortgage lending drops 13%
18 Sep 2009
Gross mortgage lending fell 13% to an estimated £12.6bn in August, the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders reveals.
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Gut feeling about inflation
14 Sep 2009
We're on the road again. That's the happy message to be gleaned from some of last week's financial statistics from various sources.
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HBS link offers brokers discount conveyancing
14 Sep 2009
Home Buyer Systems has teamed up withonline Home Information Pack and conveyancing provider Easier2Move. The link gives HBS’ users direct access to the Easier2Move website, allowing them to arrange conveyancing work at a discounted price.
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Housing bargains are still available
14 Sep 2009
The housing market has seen some heartening figures in recent weeks in terms of gross new advances. Although this was partly to be anticipated due to the time of year the graph is moving in the right direction, albeit at a slower pace than we would like.
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Inflation falls to 1.6%
15 Sep 2009
The UK annual rate of inflation fell to 1.6% in August, the lowest level in over four years.
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John Maclean breaks the Link
14 Sep 2009
Link Lending revealed last week that its managing director John Maclean has left the firm to set up a new venture, believed to be in the bridging sector.
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Just 3% of borrowers in arrears are repossessed
14 Sep 2009
Research from the Building Societies Association shows the majority of borrowers that fell into arrears over the last two years either have repaid or are currently repaying them.
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Just 3% of borrowers in arrears are repossessed
15 Sep 2009
Research from the Building Societies Association shows the majority of borrowers that fell into arrears over the last two years either have repaid or are currently repaying them.
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Kick start
14 Sep 2009
Mole hears that property developer Roseberry Overseas Property UK is holding an event for brokers at Arsenal FC's Emirates Statium on October 1 to showcase its range of property investments.
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L&G Mortgage Club launches large loan service
16 Sep 2009
Legal & General Mortgage Club has launched a lending service for brokers to source funding for their high net worth clients.
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L&G Mortgage Club offers compliance service
18 Sep 2009
Legal & General Mortgage Club is offering a compliance service to its directly authorised members through Ernst & Young.
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Large banks could be bitten by loan sharks
14 Sep 2009
Loan sharks are using big banks to launder their ill-gotten gains from lending without Consumer Credit Licences.
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Last lap for golden geezers
14 Sep 2009
Surfing Sky - as many of you undoubtedly also do when frittering away time in the wee hours - I recently stumbled across the Extreme Sports Channel and a re-run of the 2007/08 Carbon Black Rally - a supercar racing event for the ultra-rich, featuring millionaires who emerged during the last boom.
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Lehman's and a land down under
16 Sep 2009
Last week I found myself on stage as part of a panel addressing 50 of Australia’s top mortgage brokers who were interested in how their own impending regulation will impact them.
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Lender complaints surge 64% at Sesame
14 Sep 2009
Sesame is calling for lenders to step up service levels as adviser complaints surge by 64% in first half of 2009.
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Lenders pledge £38bn in new lending
15 Sep 2009
The latest data from the Financial Services Authority reveals that lenders have pledged a total of £38bn for new loans.
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Lenders pledge £38bn in new lending
15 Sep 2009
The latest data from the Financial Services Authority reveals that lenders have pledged a total of £38bn for new loans.
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Lenders should stop penalising first-time buyers
14 Sep 2009
I note that five-year swaps are less than 3.5% at the time of writing whereas five-year 90% LTV purchase deals are way over 7% for borrowers, plus chunky lender fees of up to £2,499 in one case.
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Lessons learnt the hard way
14 Sep 2009
As Mortgage Strategy celebrates its eighth anniversary the industry could be forgiven for not wanting to break open the bubbly and celebrate the events that have moulded the past eight years.
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Let's make a plan for a better future
14 Sep 2009
Like football managers, many brokers blame our industry's referee - the Financial Services Authority - when the chips are down. Most of Mortgage Strategy's Letters pages are taken up with frustrated chaps criticising it.
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Light in the credit market darkness
14 Sep 2009
Reasons to be cheerful - for the right issuers it seems that the global credit markets are starting the long haul back to normality.
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Lloyds could split from Halifax, reports suggest
16 Sep 2009
Lloyds Banking Group may be forced to surrender Halifax as the European Commission looks to take a hard line on state-backed banks, reports suggest.
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LTVs could go up further this year
14 Sep 2009
Recent figures from the Bank of England show that 80% of mortgage applications are being approved - 10% up compared with the start of the year.
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Marketwatch 14/09/2009
14 Sep 2009
Swaps had a mixed week. In fact, they haven't moved much for the past few weeks.
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Media Spotlight: The Last Days of Lehman Brothers, written by Craig Warner
14 Sep 2009
It’s just over a year since the bosses of America’s biggest banks gathered for a weekend to decide the fate of the country’s fourth largest investment bank - Lehman Brothers.
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MIG could become lenders' safety net
14 Sep 2009
It was great to see HSBC launch a 1.99% mortgage but the deal is only available to customers with a 40% deposit. Give me a break.
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Ministry of Justice to probe debt management sector
18 Sep 2009
The Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation paper on whether there needs to be a further crackdown on rogue debt management companies.
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Mortgage Brain product numbers still down but starting to stabilise
14 Sep 2009
Just five mortgage deals were added to the Mortgage Brain sourcing system during August.
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Mutual bank may boost competition
14 Sep 2009
We may be seeing the first chinks of daylight in the wholesale markets.
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My up and down relationship with elevators
14 Sep 2009
Like any other industry the property business has its own language. If a house or flat sells at a high price the figure achieved is often referred to as being ’toppy’ and basement flats are sometimes called ’D&D’ which stands for dark and dingy. A top floor flat that is ’eaveish’ is one that has been poorly converted out of a loft space.
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NACFB members see 88% drop in B2L business
14 Sep 2009
The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers has revealed the results of its annual member survey showing buy-to-let business among its members has fallen by almost 88% from £4bn last year to £476m in June 2009.
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Newcastle Building Society exits equity release market
18 Sep 2009
Newcastle Building Society is to withdraw from the equity release sector, with the closure of its equity release service by the end of the year.
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Nine properties is the limit for Lloyds' landlords
14 Sep 2009
Lloyds Banking Group has extended its buy-to-let lending policy to all HBOS brands, limiting landlords to a total of nine properties across the group.
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Northern Rock unveils trackers from 3.29%
14 Sep 2009
Northern Rock has launched a tracker range, with a two-year flexible base rate tracker available at 3.29% for both purchases and remortgages. The deal comes with a £995 fee and a maximum LTV of 65%. There is also a fee-free option at 3.89%. Some flexible fixed rates have been reduced by up to 0.4%. A two-year flexible fixed deal starts from 4.09% with a fee of £995.
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Overseas property investors shun emerging markets
15 Sep 2009
Overseas property investors are turning their backs on emerging markets such as Bulgaria and Cyprus in favour of more traditional locations, shows research from Conti.
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Percentage fees on the rise says MoneyExpert
14 Sep 2009
Research from MoneyExpert.com shows that just under half of all mortgages now come with a percentage fee, and that the highest fees have increased by a massive 25% in the past year.
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Prices finally bottoming out, says Acadametrics
14 Sep 2009
With the annual rate of decline in house prices slowing from -13.4% in April to -8.6% in August, one index is predicting that prices could be bottoming out.
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Property Ombudsman expels estate agent
15 Sep 2009
An estate agency which falsely claimed to be a member of various compensation schemes and trade bodies has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme.
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Purchase lending up on last year
14 Sep 2009
Lending for house purchase showed its first material annual growth in July for the first time since early 2007, shows the latest Council of Mortgage Lenders’ survey.
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RBS IP launches 18-month tracker
15 Sep 2009
RBS Intermediary Partners is launching a number of new mortgage deals for brokers tomorrow including a semi-exclusive 18-month base rate tracker.
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Report shows rise in employment in August
14 Sep 2009
A report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation in association with KPMG shows there was a marginal increase in both permanent and temporary staff appointments during August.
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Repossessions and arrears fall in Q2
15 Sep 2009
The latest figures from the Financial Services Authority show the number of new repossessions and arrears cases fell in Q2 2009.
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Retirees involve family in equity release decisions
15 Sep 2009
Research from Key Retirement Solutions has sought to dispel the myth that retired home owners are taking out equity release plans without informing their family first.
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RPS in rent-back deal with Ingard Financial
14 Sep 2009
Residential Property Solutions has agreed to enter a strategic relationship with Essex-based Ingard Financial, which provides a range of services for brokers. The company has recently been granted a variation of permission by the Financial Services Authority to undertake sale-and-rent-back business and has a team of qualified advisers.
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Sad song
14 Sep 2009
The news that Network Data's former HQ Botleys Mansion has been sold to a wedding company lit up the eyes of Mortgage Strategy's freshly-engaged online editor Natalie Martin last week.
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Scotland shows how HIPs could succeed
14 Sep 2009
Many will recall that the Home Information Packs initiative in England and Wales suffered a fatal blow to its credibility when the government pulled the Home Condition Report element shortly before launch.
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Searches delay slows housing market recovery
14 Sep 2009
Home owners’ efforts to sell their homes are being hampered by some local authorities who are taking over a month to deliver data on property searches.
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Sell 2 Rent teams up with RPS
15 Sep 2009
Sell 2 Rent, part of Equity Advice Group is to provide sale-and-rent-back advice to its clients on behalf of Residential Property Solutions.
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Signs of recovery as estate agents report an unusually busy August
14 Sep 2009
There are further signs of a pick-up in the housing market, with estate agents seeing unusually high levels of market activity in August.
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South-east London tops credit card fraud league
14 Sep 2009
South-east London was last week named the worst area in the country for credit card fraud, seeing an estimated 66,000 fraudulent transactions worth a whopping £18m in the past 12 months.
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Start spreading the good market news
14 Sep 2009
I have certainly got a spring in my step this week and believe that now is the time for brokers to pull all the recent good news together and make contact with their clients.
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Talk is important in conveyancing
14 Sep 2009
Research undertaken on behalf of the Solicitors Regulation Authority confirms that 93% of consumers are happy with the performance of their conveyancing solicitors.
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TBMC gives non-regulated brokers access to buy-to-let lenders' deals
14 Sep 2009
Buy-to-let and commercial specialist The Business Mortgage Company is offering non-regulated brokers access to lenders' products.
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TCF Debt Solutions links up with V Loans
14 Sep 2009
TCF Debt Solutions has linked up with V Loans to offer its clients secured loans.
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Tesco could fight a mortgage price war
14 Sep 2009
With Tesco Finance in an expansive mood and waking up to the opportunities on offer for those emerging from the recession free of toxic baggage, could the acquisition of both Northern Rock and Cheltenham & Gloucester represent a significant step for it to further its financial services ambitions?
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The Brown stuff is still hitting the fan
15 Sep 2009
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The ITEM club draws the wrong conclusion on house prices
15 Sep 2009
A report today from the Ernst & Young ITEM Club calls the current increase in house prices, which it refers to as "stabilisation", a false dawn and forecasts that property values will not return to their 2007 peak for at least another five years.
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The tricky business of regulating B2L
14 Sep 2009
A story on Mortgage Strategy Online recently caught my eye and led me back to a question that keeps rearing its head but has never found an answer.
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There are many reasons to buy homes in the sun
14 Sep 2009
As much of the country returns to work after the summer holidays many individuals are likely to be wondering if they can top up their tans on a regular basis by purchasing their own bit of paradise.
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Tiuta completes eight hour loan
14 Sep 2009
Bridging specialist Tiuta has completed a loan in less than eight hours.
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TMA launches large loan referral service
14 Sep 2009
The Mortgage Alliance has partnered with Largemortgageloans. com to offer directly authorised brokers a large loan referral service providing support for advisers with clients looking to arrange mortgages ranging from £500,000 to £50m.
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Too true
14 Sep 2009
With thousands of homes being repossessed every year Mole was pleased to see that the government has launched a campaign to try and prevent people from losing their properties.
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TrigoldCrystal eases broker GI sales
14 Sep 2009
TrigoldCrystal has launched a two-way data transfer system between its Prospector sourcing system and Paymentshield’s Inertia software.
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Two semi-exclusive products from TMA
14 Sep 2009
The Mortgage Alliance is offering two semi-exclusive two-year fixed rate home buyer and remortgage products from Abbey for Intermediaries.
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UK annual inflation drops to 1.6%
15 Sep 2009
The UK annual rate of inflation fell to 1.6% in August, the lowest level in over four years.
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Unbiased.co.uk launches connection service
17 Sep 2009
Unbiased.co.uk has launched a Professional Connections service, allowing professional advisers to link up with other IFAs, mortgage brokers and solicitors – both locally and across the UK.
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Unemployment rises to 2.47 million
16 Sep 2009
The number of unemployed people in the UK has hit 2.47 million, statistics from the Office for National Statistics reveal.
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We'll stay close to mainstream, says Checkmate boss
14 Sep 2009
Stephen Knight, executive chairman of Checkmate Mortgages, says he will not return to significant adverse lending when he launches his lender.
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Woolwich launches 1.98% mortgage
15 Sep 2009
Woolwich has launched a one-year tracker mortgage at 1.98% up to 60% LTV, available both direct and via brokers.
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Wright is wrong when it comes to updating brokers
14 Sep 2009
In the news item headlined 'Claims cases can drag on for two years' (Mortgage Strategy August 31) Carl Wright, director of Cartel Client Review, states that "with anyone but the client, solicitors are bound by Law Society rules and can't discuss [a financial claims case] so the broker will not be updated. Once a broker has introduced a client, their involvement in the case is over". I'm afraid Wright is wrong. Solicitors can discuss clients' cases with third parties provided they have ...
