Mortgage Strategy
16 September 2002
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'Strategic alliance' could be too little, too late
16 Sep 2002
Name and address supplied I read the news of a 'strategic alliance' between the Association of Independent Financial Advisers and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers and Advisers with something bordering on disbelief. There seems to be nothing strategic about it. Having followed the sorry history of NAMBA from the start, I am now told to put the pressing need for an effective mortgage intermediary trade body on hold yet again. With CP146 in the ring, lenders ...
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10-year fix from Coventry
17 Sep 2002
Coventry Building Society is launching a 10 year mortgage with a fixed rate of 5.39% until 31 December 2012. The new product will be available from Thursday 19 September for house purchase or remortgage. Key features are a 5.39% fixed rate until 31 December 2012, free valuation, no mortgage administration fee, and an option to pay up to 5% per annum without penalty. There is a £325 valuation fee, and early redemption penalties of nine months interest to 31 December ...
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16m Brits face a gloomy retirement
19 Sep 2002
The market for equity release is set to boom in future, as a survey from JPMorgan Fleming shows more than half of Britain's working population are facing hardship in retirement. The Pension Map of Britain 2002 shows more than 16 million working people likely to rely on state benefits in retirement. Numbers of those facing retirement hardship has increased by an average of one million a year since 1996. Greater London sees the greatest increase in number of people facing difficulty ...
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2.16% discount via Charcol
18 Sep 2002
Charcol is offering borrowers a market-leading 2.16% discount mortgage to 28 January 2005, with a current pay rate of 3.79%. Early repayment charges apply during the discount period,after which the loan reverts to the lender's standard variable rate. Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at Charcol, says: "For borrowers keen to have low monthly payments into 2005 this mortgage offers excellent value on loans of at least £100,000, up to 85% loan to value. In ...
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B2L returns show regional decline
16 Sep 2002
The average rental return on a buy-to-let investment was 6.3% during the summer, latest research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents reveals. But ARLA says there was a marked difference between the rates of return experienced throughout the country, with prime central London at 5.6%, the rest of the South East at 6.1% and the rest of the country at 7.0% Although this shows a decline of 0.5% in average rental returns, from 6.8% to 6.3%, ARLA member letting agents ...
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Barclays takes Openplan to Spain
18 Sep 2002
Barclays has extended its Openplan mortgage to non-residents who want to buy a property in Spain. Over 75,000 Britons already own a home in Spain and with a volatile stock market and high property prices in the UK this is expected to increase over the next few years as Britons look for other ways to invest. Barclays is looking at rolling out Openplan for non-residents in other markets in the future. This follows an already successful launch of Openplan in the domestic ...
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BMS offers savers combined solution
19 Sep 2002
After research suggested that one in four Britons would not be able to afford a financial emergency or 'surprise', Birmingham Midshires Solutions is proposing its Combination Account as a means of balancing short-term financial needs with long-term aspirations. The account offers savers the best of both worlds; high return instant access with the potential for longer term managed growth through investment partner AXA. The concept is simple. Savers are able to profit ...
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Brokers happy to see the back of CP98
16 Sep 2002
Just 11% of mortgage brokers agreed with CP98 proposals to make lenders responsible for ensuring brokers hand out a pre-application illustration, reveals a Future Mortgages' survey of 500 mortgage brokers. Asked whether the FSA was right to reverse this decision, 43% of respondents said yes, although a massive 46% were unsure. Brian Pitt, director of sales and marketing at Future, says: "This validation of intermediary activity would have provided an administrative ...
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Calculating success with Virgin One and Mortgage Brain
18 Sep 2002
The Virgin One account has linked up with Mortgage Brain to allow mortgage brokers and intermediaries direct access to its advanced savings calculator. Mark Lofthouse, CEO of Mortgage Brain says: "The new Virgin One account calculator on Mortgage Brain ensures that we are providing our customers with a full range of tools to make their jobs easier. The all-in-one account mortgage market is growing at such a rate that intermediaries will find the tool invaluable." Anthony ...
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Christmas gifts from Capital
19 Sep 2002
Capital Home Loans is giving away £10 Marks & Spencer gift vouchers in the run-up to Christmas. The Hampshire-based lender is to send introducers a £10 M&S gift voucher for every application submitted during the period September 9 to December 31 2002. In addition, intermediaries who send in 10 or more applications during the period can claim an additional £100-worth of M&S gift vouchers. The gift voucher campaign was a runaway success for the ...
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Concerns raised over authorised reps
16 Sep 2002
Mortgage pundits have voiced their concern at some lenders' willingness to take on authorised reps when regulation is implemented in 2004. Frank Eve says: "The authorised representative question will be a big issue across the market. Lenders have to be very clear about how they will control compliance of brokers before they can enforce rules among appointed representatives." Doubts also exist over sub-prime lenders' willingness to act as authorisers for mainly sub-prime brokers. ...
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Consumers want to pay off debt early
16 Sep 2002
Nearly three-quarters of flexible borrowers say they plan to repay their mortgage early, but only a quarter choose their mortgage for its flexible features, research from Chelsea reveals. Under a third of borrowers wanted the flexibility that the mortgage offers and one in four want to be able to make overpayments. Nearly a third of respondents have made overpayments while over half intend to make overpayments in the future. One in five have made lump sum repayments while more than ...
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Credit card spending hits new highs
16 Sep 2002
Credit outstanding on the UK's 59 million Visa or MasterCard branded credit cards reached £43.7bn at the end of July - 16% more than the year before - reveals new figures from the British Banker's Association. The BBA data shows there are almost 48 million card accounts, of which 32 million are active, carrying nearly £1,400 each on average. Credit card borrowing accounts for some 30% of all outstanding consumer credit and some 60% of all new ...
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Datamonitor spies huge market for DIY loans
17 Sep 2002
The slowdown in the housing market and the popularity of DIY are shoring up a huge potential market for home improvement lending products, says Datamonitor. In 2001, an estimated £13.6 billion was lent in unsecured and secured personal loans for home improvements. This makes home improvements the third most common reason for taking out a loan, after debt consolidation and car purchases. The housing slowdown is making people stay put but add value to their current ...
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Digest MCCB to publish CP146 guidelines
16 Sep 2002
Intermediaries will find it easier to get to grips with CP146 next week after the MCCB publishes a user's guide to proposals for mortgage regulation. The guide summarises the main points of the 200-page FSA paper. Consultation closes on November 11 but, as far as a response goes, the mortgage board insists that brokers are on their own. Brad Baker, spokesman for the MCCB, says: "We are still happy to act as a conduit for intermediary views, but we will respond to CP146 as a ...
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Don't keep up the Bad work
16 Sep 2002
From Phillip Ambler Is quality of service a thing of the past like all the other things that had value and worth? It appears so. During the processing of several mortgage applications by various large lenders I was dismayed at the service provided. Not mentioning any names (Britannia Building Society, Britannic Money, GMAC, Nottingham Building Society, etc.) I feel it is my duty to bring this to the attention of the broker community at large. Let's take Britannia Building Society ...
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DTI award to Norwich Union call staff
20 Sep 2002
Hundreds of call centre staff at Norwich Union have embarked on a project to trial a range of new flexible working initiatives in Sheffield, Norwich and Glasgow. The project was funded to the tune of £50,000 by the Department of Trade and Industry work-life balance challenge fund. The multi-site Norwich Union is looking to identify and promote better ways of working which will benefit employees, customers and the business. These sites have been chosen for the pilot as they ...
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Esure welcomes homes back to flood insurance fold
20 Sep 2002
Esure will offer insurance to over 250,000 previously excluded homes this autumn, after it became the first insurer to openly decline home insurance within flood risk areas early this year. Overall, around 15,000 postcodes have been reintroduced. These include large clusters of homes in greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cardiff, Southampton, Portsmouth and North London. Esure says its original move was taken to keep its home insurance premiums around £40 lower per ...
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Eve of a new era for NG
16 Sep 2002
Birmingham-based packager National Guarantee has appointed Frank Eve as a non-executive director. The non-standard mortgage funder has appointed Eve to give the group assistance with its growth strategy and to help position it for regulatory changes and compliance in the new post-legislation market. Keith Robinson, managing director of National Guarantee, says: "We are very pleased to have retained someone with such a wealth of experience in the mortgage industry. Frank will provide ...
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Fears of poor CP146 response rate
16 Sep 2002
Just 0.15% of mortgage brokers responded to CP98 and the industry fears that the response to CP146 will be equally poor. CP98 attracted 136 responses, 76 of which were from mortgages lenders. Another 35 were from a wide variety of trade bodies or consumer associations, including the MCCB, the CML, the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, the Consumers' Association and the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Six non-lender respondents were anonymous. This leaves ...
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Fixed rate comeback
20 Sep 2002
The receding risk of an impending interest rate rise means lenders are gearing up to launch a raft of highly competitive fixed rate deals, says Andy Frankish, director at Mortgage Talk Direct. Frankish believes that over the coming months a new breed of aggressively priced fixed rate products will start to overtake discounted schemes as the mortgage product of choice for the discerning borrower. He says: "Although there are still some excellent discounted products out ...
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Flexible friends? Flexible friends?
16 Sep 2002
A recent report for the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Office of the deputy Prime Minister offered a snapshot of the booming flexible mortgage market at the end of 2000. It also found that intermediaries have been a crucial factor in its success. The report found that nearly half of the surveyed borrowers with a flexible mortgage had not yet used its features, either to vary their repayments or withdraw equity from their homes. CML deputy director Peter Williams says: "Flexible ...
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FSA publishes new consumer guide
19 Sep 2002
The FSA is telling consumers to shop around for the best deal on financial products, after revealing that four out of 10 people consider only one company when buying. A new FSA guide, It pays to shop around, is available free from high-street post offices. Chris Bernthal of the FSA's consumer division says: "Buying a financial product is no different to buying a TV, car or holiday. You need to shop around and compare information about products from different companies. ...
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FSA SCRAPS PLANS FOR AUTHORISED ADVISER STATUS
20 Sep 2002
The FSA is set to scrap proposals for authorised adviser status, says the head of the regulatorÂ's polarisation review David Severn. Severn, speaking at a conference in London, told delegates the FSA is dropping plans for a category of authorised adviser. The defined payment system will be amended to something that is more acceptable to the majority of IFAs and will allow more to retain their independent status. Plans for all other aspects of polarisation ...
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Genesis Approved passes 300 mark
16 Sep 2002
Genesis Home Loans has signed up the 300th member to its exclusive mortgage club, Genesis Approved. Launched less than a year ago, the club has received a huge response from intermediaries throughout the country. The 200th member was appointed just over three months ago. Frank Thurlby, head of operations at Genesis Home Loans, says: "From the outset we knew we wanted our mortgage club to offer that little bit more than others in the marketplace, and also to afford its ...
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Genesis releases new fixed and discounted rates
18 Sep 2002
Correspondent lender Genesis Home Loans has released brand new fixed and discounted rates for its ever-popular self certification product, Pathfinder. Available up to 90% LTV at SVR for purchases and re-mortgages, the product offers both employed and self employed clients mortgage facilities, without the need for any references or the requirement to state an income on the application form. A 1.50% discount is available for loans up to 75% LTV, which gives an initial pay ...
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GMAC's STAR shines brighter
16 Sep 2002
GMAC-RFC has increased its STAR discount options by 0.25% and added a two-year fixed rate feature. STAR offers the client minimal fuss with a "no income stated" and "no reference" guarantee, up to 90% LTV. The only requirements are a completed application form (without income details) and an application fee, which means that the processing time is considerably reduced ensuring clients receive a mortgage offer even more quickly. Gina Collman, head of corporate communications at ...
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Government announces £1.2bn house-building programme
20 Sep 2002
The government has announced a new house-building programme worth more than £1.2bn, up £365m on the current year. The extra funds, from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, have been allocated to the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme and should deliver up to 22,700 homes in 2003-2004. Speaking at the National Housing Federation conference in Birmingham, housing minister Jeff Rooker said the new homes would exceed the government's ...
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Government says brownfield building to continue
16 Sep 2002
More brownfield land is available for development, government figures published last week reveal, writes Helen McCormick. The government's target is for 60% of new developments to be built on previously developed land and through conversion of existing buildings by 2008. The new figures, provided by the National Land Use Database, show that land is there to reach this target. Planning minister Jeff Rooker says: "These new figures show a continuing supply in the brownfield land ...
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Halifax aims for safer homes
19 Sep 2002
Halifax General Insurance is advising people to take some simple steps to make their homes more secure. The latest annual British Crime Survey, published in July by the Home Office, shows that nearly 80% of all offences are property-related. Howard Posner, managing director of Halifax General Insurance, says: "While the headline figure for crime shows no increase in the 12-month period, offences relating to property remain, by some distance, the key statistic. Therefore, ...
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Halifax goes into the Pink
16 Sep 2002
Pink Home Loans has added the Halifax to its direct lender panel. The Pink panel now totals 33 lenders covering the mortgage spectrum from mainstream to specialist and niche products. Tony Jones, managing director at Pink Home Loans, says: "We are delighted to welcome the Halifax onto the direct panel. As the UK's number one lender, the Halifax offers a broad and competitive product range combined with a commitment to providing support and service to the intermediary market. ...
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Homebuyers choose heating over sustainable house price
17 Sep 2002
Only 1% of Britons rate price as the most important consideration when buying a new property, Alliance & Leicester's quarterly movingimproving Index reveals. Despite concerns over the long term sustainability of house price inflation, borrowers are largely unbothered by the house price debate when it comes to choosing their new home. Of greater importance is keeping warm in winter, with some 10% of people making central heating their number one priority when shopping ...
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Housing market growth survives price slowdown
16 Sep 2002
There is no evidence to support the housing market slowdown predicted by economists, says one of the UK's leading conveyancing law firms. The Southport-based Barnetts Solicitors acts for major UK mortgage lenders and estate agency groups and has seen its turnover jump 110%. The company is handling in excess of 100 cases a day and there are no signs that the level of work will decrease. Richard Barnett, senior partner at Barnetts, says: "City economists have been stating ...
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I can't get no (customer) satisfaction
16 Sep 2002
An inevitable question was doing the rounds during August: will the mortgage market finally start to deflate or are we just seeing a bigger seasonal roller coaster than usual? While there is still evidence of a continuing strong market, there certainly seems to have been plenty of comment over recent months that the market may be heading for the down slope. Either way, competition for new business is as tough, even cut-throat, and is likely to remain that way. All the more reason, ...
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In a galaxy far, far away... The workflow of the future
16 Sep 2002
During the dotcom boom, there were some fanciful predictions about the year 2005. People would not need to visit the high street, everyone would satisfy their needs from home through the PC or digital TV. Reality has certainly not kept pace with the hype. To date, the web has been hugely appealing to consumers for information gathering, but ultimately it is the level of transactions that will be the crucial measure of success. So let's take a quick journey through time to 2005 - ...
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Industry shock as Johnson quits igroup
16 Sep 2002
David Johnson, managing director of igroup, is understood to have resigned from the sub-prime lender on Wednesday last week. Rumours have been rife for some time that Johnson, renowned for his entrepreneurial business acumen, was looking to move on from the company he helped to create. US giant GE Capital purchased igroup in May 2001, making Johnson a rumoured £10m-£20m richer in the process. But one friend and former colleague says: "This has come as a complete shock ...
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L&C makes remortgage offer not to be refused
16 Sep 2002
London & Country is highlighting the ever-decreasing costs of mortgage borrowing with a new scheme that promises clients a £50 cash reward if they fail to save money on a remortgage. To participate in the free 'Mortgage Challenge' service, borrowers must have a mortgage for over £30,000 that they haven't changed in the last three years. They must also have no redemption penalties on their existing mortgage and a good credit history. David Hollingworth, ...
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Looking to scale the mortgage heights
16 Sep 2002
Q: How is Olympian Financial structured? A: Olympian Financial has two sections - sales and underwriting - with the heads of both departments reporting to the managing director, Mel Fordham, who has an active role in the company and its day-to-day activities. The company has a small direct-to consumer arm. Olympian Financial offers second loans and second charge lending, in addition to its mortgage business. Also, in line with its programme of development and expansion, the company ...
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Madrid summit dates
16 Sep 2002
Europe's top mortgage leaders and mortgage bond issuers will gather in Madrid between September 22-24 for EuroCatalyst 2002, an industry-wide event focused on the future of mortgage lending and housing finance in Europe in the context of globalisation and Basel II. The conference theme addresses the gap between local aspects of mortgage lending and national market structures versus global funding activities, placing the entire event in the context of the question: "European mortgage ...
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Massive lending increase at TMB
18 Sep 2002
Self-cert and buy-to-let specialist The Mortgage Business has outstripped the mortgage market in terms of gross lending by over 20% year on year. With CML figures indicating that the lending market is up by 41% in 2002, TMB's gross lending figures are up by 62.7% on the first seven months of 2001. In July 2001 TMB had gross lending of £107 million in a total market of £15,500 million, a 0.69% market share. In July 2002, this has more than doubled to 1.58% (£345 ...
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MCCB releases annual report
18 Sep 2002
Over 37,000 advisers have passed one of the accredited examinations ahead of the 31 December 2002 qualification deadline for mortgage advisers, reveals the MCCB's 2002 annual report. Between liasing with the government over statutory regulation and implementing its own fitness requirements, the MCCB claims the last 12 months have been its busiest ever. The board has implemented the requirement for all new firms to meet the its Fitness and Propriety entry requirements. ...
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Mobile printer set to revolutionise home visits
16 Sep 2002
Brokers will soon be able to print out quotes, bills and product literature from a gadget as big as a mobile phone. Brother UK has created m-PRNT as part of its mobile office for independent financial advisers, with the world's smallest self-contained printer. The m-PRNT fits easily into a jacket pocket and brings true mobile printing to financial advisers using personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptops, and can be used to produce hard copies of important customer documents ...
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More evidence of housing slowdown
17 Sep 2002
The slowdown in the housing market first identified at the start of the summer is continuing, says the National Association of Estate Agents. The findings of the NAEA's August monthly housing market survey show that lower numbers of new sales in London and the home counties are beginning to affect other regions, with one or two exceptions. Hugh Dunsmore-Hardy, NAEA chief executive, says: "House price inflation continues to hover around 17%, reflecting the issue of ...
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MORTGAGE 2000 AND MORTGAGE BRAIN JOIN FORCES
17 Sep 2002
Mortgage 2000 and Mortgage Brain today announced they have joined forces to deliver a common trading platform for mortgage intermediaries in the UK. The Mortgage Trading Exchange will allow mortgage intermediaries to trade electronically with lenders who account for over 70% of the mortgage market, and will make mortgage applications quicker, simpler and more convenient for both intermediaries and lenders. Mortgage Brain and Mortgage 2000 are still separate companies ...
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Mortgage Express agrees new discount
19 Sep 2002
Mortgage Express have agreed a semi-exclusive discount product for Square Mile Mortgage Finance and Hamptons for residential purchase. The product offers a 2.02% discount for two years with no redemption penalties at any time. The initial pay rate is 3.48% up to 75% LTV and 3.73% up to 95% LTV. Minimum loan size is £75,000 and maximum £300,000. Simon Bucknell, director of business development at Square Mile, says: 'The market has been crying out for ...
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Mortgage lending goes from strength to strength
20 Sep 2002
Gross mortgage advances totalled £19.5bn in August, the third highest on record, reveals new data from the CML. The figure is lower than the record lending level seen in July, but it is still significantly higher than the August 2001 figure of £16.5bn. Total mortgage lending during 2002 is now expected to reach £210bn. Loans for house purchase amounted to £11.5bn in August and represents 59% of total lending. The value of remortgaging was ...
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My mortgage week
16 Sep 2002
Monday: Mental note on my way to work: make sure that I start my diary for Mortgage Strategy this week. I hope I've got an action-packed week to write about. I start the day with a mind-numbing exercise in mathematics - reviewing completion and pending figures with our sales and marketing director, Brian Hayes, which included a conference call with Adam Henry, national sales manager at igroup. Lunchtime is spent meeting our printers, Jarvis and Co, and proofing our new application form ...
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New Eve for National Guarantee
19 Sep 2002
Packager National Guarantee has appointed Frank Eve as a non-executive director. Eve, a well-known and respected figure within the UK mortgage industry, will offer the company strategic advice about business development. He will also be heavily involved in preparing National Guarantee to meet the demands of the new regulatory and compliance regimes. His appointment is effective from 1 October 2002. Keith Robinson, National Guarantee's managing director, says: "I am ...
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New flexibles at Savills
18 Sep 2002
Savills Private Finance has negotiated two exclusive open plan flexible mortgages. One two-year product offers a 2.01% discount off the current SVR of 5.95% giving a pay rate of 3.94%. There are no early redemption penalties and an arrangement fee of £295. The two-year stepped discount offers a first year 2.66% discount with pay rate of 3.29%, followed by a second year 1.86% discount with pay rate of 4.09%. Early redemption penalties are six months' interest ...
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New lending figures
20 Sep 2002
Mortgage lending rose by £4.9bn in August, reveals latest figures from the major British banking groups. This is higher than JulyÂ's rise of £4.7bn and the recent underlying average of £4.4bn, but not as high as the record £5.2bn increase seen in May. Net lending increased by £3.8bn to £850bn Â- up +0.5% - in August. This compared with JulyÂ's underlying rise of £6.9bn and the recent monthly average of £7.9bn. ...
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New product line-up for Irish Permanent
20 Sep 2002
Irish Permanent has launched a fresh range of market-leading UK mortgage products that are expected to help it continue to build market share. The Hammersmith, London-based lender's line-up of products include a new re-mortgage bank base tracker for self-certification and buy-to-let. The product comes with no completion fee, valuation fee refunded after completion and a £300 contribution to legal fees after completion. On self-certification the product is at ...
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New start for ERA
16 Sep 2002
Global estate agency franchise ERA has launched the first of its new-start estate agents in Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex. IFAs Divyesh Patel and Kamal Joshi jointly own the New Estate agency. The office was launched in July and, as a result of pre-launch marketing and publicity, already has several instructions and sales agreed. Roy Gover, ERA GB's managing director, says: "We are in discussions with many IFAs, mortgage brokers, solicitors and general insurance brokers right across ...
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Norwich Union and Leeds & Holbeck team up for equity release
18 Sep 2002
Homeowners who want to release equity from their properties can now buy Norwich Union's Flexible Cash Release Plan through Leeds & Holbeck Building Society branches. Norwich Union's equity release product - which gives people aged 60+ access to some of the cash tied up in their home - is now available to Leeds & Holbeck Building Society customers following a link-up between the two companies. Equity release is becoming increasingly popular as a way of boosting retirement ...
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Pink offers buy-to-let exclusive
20 Sep 2002
Pink Home Loans has linked up with Mortgage Express to launch a new exclusive buy-to-let mortgage deal. The product offers a discount of 0.55% for three years, giving an initial pay rate of 5.2%, completely redemption penalty free. Tony Jones, managing director of Pink Home Loans, says: "This buy-to-let product is part of a new selection of exclusive deals launched by Pink Home Loans in association with Mortgage Express. New self-cert, 100% and standard deals are being ...
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Pink relaunches discount
18 Sep 2002
Pink Home Loans has teamed up with Leeds & Holbeck to relaunch a best-selling discount mortgage product. The exclusive product now offers £250 cash-back and no arrangement fee. With an initial pay rate of 3.95%, the product offers a discount of 1.8% for two years and no redemption penalty overhang. Tony Jones, managing director at Pink Home Loans, says: "First-time buyers in particular find the initial costs of buying a home and arranging a mortgage a significant ...
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Platform and Verso combine salesforce
17 Sep 2002
Platform Home Loans and Verso have combined sales forces to complete the first stage of the merger between the two companies. Each individual salesperson in the newly combined sales team will be able to sell the complete range of mortgages from both Platform & Verso. The new salesforce will be on the road from 9th September promoting non-conforming as well as niche products such as self-certification and buy-to-let. All applications will continue to be processed through ...
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PRIM director takes over
20 Sep 2002
Park Row Independent Mortgages has appointed Kevin Paterson as managing director. PRIM is the independent mortgage arm of Park Row, and Paterson reports to Eddie Fitzsimmons, executive director, Park Row Group plc. To date Paterson has been responsible for establishing PRIM following Park Row's reverse takeover of Birchin International plc in May 2002. Hisd his ongoing role will be to expand the business further. PRIM has 80 mortgage advisers and aims to grow to 100 by the ...
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Push for low rate fixes, says Charcol
16 Sep 2002
The best two and five-year fixed rates have slid down by 0.85% and 0.70% respectively in the last three months, despite Bank of England base rates holding static at 4%. Borrowers now have access to the lowest five, seven and 10-year fixed rates in living memory. And even though swap rates edged upwards last week, Charcol predicts more lenders will drop their rates in line with the current market leaders in the coming weeks. Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at Charcol, says: ...
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Qualification countdown continues
18 Sep 2002
With December's qualification deadline for mortgage brokers less than four months away, the latest edition of MCCB news shows that nearly 62,000 advisers have registered with the Institute of Financial Services for CeMAP or CeMAP 'Bridge' paper, and 25,370 of these have already qualified. Separate statistics from the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland for the Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice show an increase to 6,998 total registrations with 2,720 completions ...
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Seminars to help brokers with regulation
16 Sep 2002
HomeLoan Partnership has arranged a series of seminars around the country to discuss the implications of CP146, writes Helen McCormick. Each event will include a speech from Mark Boland, compliance director at GMAC-RFC. Kevan Nicholson, HLP's new head of compliance, will present the network's view of CP146. Nicholson, formerly of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, will also give an overview of what it means to be FSA-qualified. Network managing director Steve Hoare says: "Helping brokers ...
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Skipton offers new base rate tracker
17 Sep 2002
Skipton Building Society has launched a new base rate tracker mortgage, offering borrowers an initial rate of 3.5% in addition to flexible benefits such as overpayments and payment holidays. Key product features include a rate of 0.5% less than Bank of England base rate for one year, followed by base rate plus 1% for three years then the society's variable rate with a 0.5% discount from year five onwards. The product has flexible benefits of daily interest, overpayments ...
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Spektra talks technology
20 Sep 2002
The Spektra Research Institute has released a White Paper that looks at how financial services companies, including financial advice firms, can use technology to increase efficiency and distribution power. The paper, entitled 'Using Technology Solutions To Empower The Value Chain', is produced with support from Microsoft UK and is available, free of charge, from the company's website www.spektra.co.uk. Euan Robertson, director of the SRI, comments: "The future ...
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Spend now or forever pay the price
16 Sep 2002
One of the attractions of being a mortgage adviser, or indeed any financial adviser in the past, used to be the relatively low barriers to entering the business. Not just lack of exams, but the cost of the tools that are needed to carry out the trade. Compare that to say an electrician or a plumber. Each is likely to have served an apprenticeship and to have built up their own set of tools of their trade, often at great cost. Little more than a decade ago, just about all you needed ...
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Sub-prime packager 'seal of approval'
16 Sep 2002
BM Solutions today launches a packager "seal of approval" amidst fresh calls for full disclosure of fees among sub-prime mortgage packagers. Since launching into the sub-prime mortgage market last year, BM Solutions has been lobbying for greater transparency of sub-prime packager fees. BM Solutions will carry the branding alongside names of the panel members on all its sub-prime trade-press advertising. A number of panel members also expect to carry the branding on their own advertising. ...
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The mortgage mole
16 Sep 2002
Rough Mole could say it was lack of experience that left him in the rough at Pink Home Loans' annual golf day last week. Alas, that would be a teeny lie. What could be better than a game of golf beneath a blue sky and blazing sun? This, sans hangover, would be Mole's perfect day. However, partnering Pink's David Jewell and Amber Home Loans' Mike Perry for the day at Lichfield's Seedy Mill Golf Course, a touch of sun stroke left Mole with no alternative but to add a colourful ...
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The truth, the whole truth and not much else
16 Sep 2002
From David Parry I read with interest Ray Boulger's letter and the Mole's perspective on the situation surrounding TMB's remortgage research. It is indeed good to know that all remortgages are remortgages and that the process of remortgaging involves remortgaging. Most illuminating. In response to the Mole's comments I would respectfully point out that eagles are impressive birds blessed with phenomenal vision but are impulsive creatures, which often act exclusively ...
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Thumbs up for low cost home ownership
20 Sep 2002
Some 80% of shared ownership and do-it-yourself shared ownership buyers, and over 90% of Homebuy purchasers are satisfied with their form of tenure, reveals research from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The research, launched today at the National Housing Federation annual conference in Birmingham, also found that low cost home ownership schemes offered good value for money for both the consumer and in terms of public subsidy. Jeff Rooker, housing minister, ...
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Time to flex some muscle of our own
16 Sep 2002
Flexible mortgages could soon be a thing of the past thanks to meddling from Brussels bureaucrats. A new directive, published last week, would require lenders to provide advice for customers taking out all types of consumer credit agreements. But, as we reveal on page 4, the directive would also apply to consumers drawing-down credit under the terms of their loans and, in so doing, prevent consumers using one of the key features of a flexible mortgage. If this were to happen, lenders ...
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TMO signs new lenders for direct panels
17 Sep 2002
Intelligent Finance, Norwich & Peterborough and Cheltenham & Gloucester have joined the direct panel of The Mortgage Operation, taking the total number of lenders to 16. Stuart Johnson, TMO sales director, says: "Each lender brings its own unique benefits to our panel - benefits that offer the intermediary true added value." Ian Jeffery, Intelligent Finance's sales and marketing director, says: "TMO has always pursued an aggressive e-commerce strategy as have Intelligent ...
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Tough times for wealth managers
16 Sep 2002
The stock market downturn and fierce competition are giving wealth managers a rough ride, reveals research from market analyst Datamonitor. On average operating revenues from Datamonitor's sample of 30 wealth managers increased by 0.4% in 2001. There was considerable variance in the individual performances of wealth managers. Operating income at Close Wealth Management grew 70% in 2001, but incomes at Bank Vontobel declined 49% over the same period. Trading income ...
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Verso and Platform join forces
16 Sep 2002
Platform Home Loans and Verso have combined sales forces to complete the first stage of the merger between the two companies. The new sales force has been on the road since September 9 promoting non-conforming as well as niche products such as self-cert and buy-to-let. All applications will continue to be processed through either the Leek office (Verso applications) or the Docklands office (Platform applications). Jeremy Duncombe, head of sales at Platform, will manage the new sales ...
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VirginOne: garages drive up prices
16 Sep 2002
Britain's car-crazy culture means that building a garage is now the best way to increase the value of a home, research from VirginOne reveals. Valuers for the VirginOne account say kitchen and bathroom refits no longer top the table for adding value to property as off-road parking and a garage are now far more desirable to Britain's 23 million car owners. And people who are thinking of shelling out £20,000 for a swimming pool should think again - it may improve the saleability ...
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Warning to first-timers
16 Sep 2002
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned first-time buyers they will suffer a dramatic increase in mortgage payments if interest rates rise. The CML says the "interest rate windfall" must end soon and points out the shock of higher rates could be magnified if it coincided with the end of an introductory discount period. A borrower moving from a 2% discount at the same time as interest rates rose from, for example, 4% to 5%, would see their mortgage payments rise from around 15% to ...
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Watch those figures
16 Sep 2002
From Bill Phillips I would like to question a point raised by Ray Boulger of Charcol in "This Week's Problem Case" (Mortgage Strategy, September 9). Ray stated, in reference to self-cert mortgages, the borrower would have to declare an income of at least £34,800 (an amount more than the provable income), thus committing mortgage fraud. What does he believe the lender has in mind when he offers a self-cert mortgage and why do we have self-cert mortgages in the first place. ...
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Where Mortgage Strategy leads, others follow
16 Sep 2002
Research conducted by AIM on behalf of industry providers including Mortgage Brain, reveals that 50% of intermediaries regard Mortgage Strategy as the number one mortgage industry title. In an independent survey of mortgage intermediaries including non-regulated advisers and IFAs, 41% said they found Mortgage Strategy to be the most useful of the mortgage industry titles, while 50% said that, if they had to choose one mortgage publication, they would go for Mortgage Strategy instead ...
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Woolwich picks up waning confidence
17 Sep 2002
UK consumer confidence in the housing market has dropped for the third consecutive month, the latest Woolwich Mortgage Index reveals. Falling confidence is combined with a reduction in gross mortgage lending. The index shows that average consumer confidence has fallen from 59% to 57% throughout the UK over the last three months. Gross mortgage lending decreased by 4% over the last month. UK gross mortgage lending once again exceeded £20 billion in August ...
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Yorkshire takes relaxed approach to new ad campaign
18 Sep 2002
Yorkshire Building Society is launching a new marketing campaign to support its full mortgage range. The theme focuses on Yorkshire borrowers who can sit back and relax, confident in the knowledge that their deal is as flexible as they need it to be. The new branch posters are designed to brighten up the high streets in the communities which Yorkshire's 131 branches serve. They're also intended to communicate that it is not necessary to keep chopping and changing ...
