Mortgage Strategy
17 June 2002

  • 1st software appoints mortgage expert

    17 Jun 2002

    1st Software, a provider of integrated technology solutions to financial advisers and intermediaries, has announced it is the appointment of an in-house mortgage expert. Nick Berry, previously with Focus Business Solutions, joins 1st as the Head of Mortgage Business Development. Berry has had more than 20 years experience in the financial services and mortgage marketplace, having worked at several major building societies and more recently in the e-commerce and technology ...

  • A pat on the back

    17 Jun 2002

    The MCCB requires financial advisers to attain either CeMAP, the bridge paper or the MAQ to raise the knowledge threshold to over 70%. I passed the CeMAP Bridge paper on Friday June 8 2002. Our firm specialises in high-net-worth customers, doctors, dentists, barristers, teachers and chartered surveyors on a national basis. We are providing training courses for advisers to achieve this mandatory qualification. These will be set up on a nationwide basis. Peter Taylor, MLIA, DIP, ...

  • A slice of the action

    17 Jun 2002

    The days of the standard vanilla mortgage product are all but gone. As clients find themselves spoilt for choice, are mainstream mortgages in danger of being eaten up by products with increasingly fancy features? Harriet Williams investigatesThe next client to walk through your doors will probably be one of them. Not self-employed or a divorcee with CCJs, but Mr or Mrs Average - on a regular income, in a regular job and with a clean credit history. The Averages are part of the mainstream ...

  • A&L mortgage figures up

    17 Jun 2002

    Mortgage applications have rocketed by a third at Alliance & Leicester as homebuyers plunge into the booming property market. The bank revealed the 34% surge in the value of applications for the first five months of this year in a confident trading statement ahead of its close period. Asset quality remained excellent, it said, with mortgage arrears falling and no deterioration in the quality of the unsecured loan book. Provisions for bad debts in commercial banking, however, ...

  • Abbey cuts back to 90% LTV products

    17 Jun 2002

    Abbey National is tightening its lending criteria on mortgages over 90% LTV in an attempt to make the first-time-buyer and buy-to-let markets less risky. A spokeswoman for Abbey National says: "We'll be looking at larger loans, at those loans over 90% in the buy-to-let market and in cases where first-time buyers are really stretching themselves." Abbey's new products include 95% LTV products for first-time buyers. The bank insists its new caution is designed to protect ...

  • Amber buys mortgage portfolio from GMAC-RFC

    19 Jun 2002

    Amber Homeloans, the specialist subsidary of Skipton Building Society, has purchased a residential mortgage portfolio valued at over £150m from GMAC-RFC. This is Amber's third acquisition from GMAC-RFC in two years and brings the total number of acquisitions by Amber Group to 15. Amber was advised in the latest transaction by the Leeds office of legal firm Pinsent Curtis Biddle. Amber's management team has extensive experience in the acquiring and selling ...

  • ARLA finds 'sensible and sustainable' buy-to-let trends

    20 Jun 2002

    The amount borrowed by the typical buy-to-let investor has not risen significantly despite the current rate of house price inflation, reveals an survey by the Association of Residential Letting Agents. ARLA finds that more than half of all buy-to-let investors are planning for the long term by taking out fixed rate mortgages. ARLA's latest buy-to-let bulletin shows that the average loan in the six months to March 2002 was £80,200. This is little changed, in ...

  • Bank governor warns of rate rise

    17 Jun 2002

    Sir Edward George, governor of the Bank of England, last week warned that the Bank would have "no option" but to raise rates if domestic demand growth did not slow. Sir Edward (pictured) told a committee of MPs: "If it doesn't happen that domestic demand slows, and the external situation picks up, that's when it would generate inflationary pressure. At some point we will have to moderate the rate of growth of domestic demand." The Bank's monetary policy committee left ...

  • Bank of Ireland appoints new board

    20 Jun 2002

    The Bank of Ireland Group has announced the membership of a new board that will oversee its recently formed UK Financial Services (UKFS) Division. UKFS includes Bristol & West and its associated companies and the group's banking operations in Britain and Northern Ireland. The members of the new board will also be members of the board of Bristol & West PLC. UKFS recorded profits before tax and goodwill of £210m in the year to March 31 2002 and accounted for more ...

  • Birmingham Midshires highlights UK savings gap

    21 Jun 2002

    Six out of 10 people over the age of 45-years old see their long-term financial well-being and comfort in bleak terms, reveals the 'Saving Britain 2002' from Birmingham Midshires. The findings reveal how peoples' worries for old age run beyond the size of their pension or savings, to lifestyle issues and the financial costs of old age. For a typical over-45-year old, the main fears for the future are the cost and standard of healthcare, living in retirement homes and ...

  • Bristol & West release the 'best' with new range

    17 Jun 2002

    Bristol & West Mortgages is launching three 'best rate' mortgages to supplement its new mortgage range. In April, B&W extended its criteria to allow borrowers with a clean credit history to borrow up to 4 x income and to refinance up to 95% LTV. B&W is also claiming improved service with an answer in three minutes through its online application-in-principle facility. The deals on offer include a 3.89% two-year discount mortgage equal to a 2.06% discount off ...

  • Britannic rules over CAM moniker trademark

    17 Jun 2002

    Britannic Money has registered the current account mortgage acronym 'CAM' as a trademark to prevent other lenders using it in relation to similar products. Britannic says the application was made on the grounds that it pioneered the concept of current account mortgages in the UK. Other all-in-one providers shrugged off the news that CAM is now out of bounds for advertising purposes. Scott Mowbray, marketing manager for VirginOne, says: "Britannic is welcome to the trademark. ...

  • Broker launches separate B2L arm

    17 Jun 2002

    Two West Midlands brokers are dividing their businesses between residential and commercial sectors as a reaction to the debate over the regulatory status of the buy-to-let market. Following warnings of a potential slowdown in the private rental sector from surveyors and letting agency organisations, some brokers and lenders, including SPML and Birmingham Midshires Solutions, have broken the consensus that buy-to-let should remain firmly outside the scope of regulation. Telford-based ...

  • Brokers have pivotal role in mortgage process, says Verso

    17 Jun 2002

    A survey of 3,000 mortgage borrowers undertaken by Verso, Britannia's subsidiary prime niche lender, has confirmed the central role mortgage advisers play in the mortgage process, particularly when it comes to a borrower considering taking out a specialist mortgage. Verso commissioned the research to question borrowers on their general attitude to financial decision making; their views on the role and benefits of using a mortgage adviser, as well as general consumer awareness ...

  • C&G pays out after FOS dual-rate ruling

    19 Jun 2002

    Cheltenham & Gloucester has agreed to compensate hundreds of borrowers who complained that their mortgages were charged at the higher of the lender's two variable rates. The decision follows a preliminary assessment of a test case relating to the C&G variable rate by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). C&G has decided not to seek a final determination from the FOS in this case, and instead will settle with each borrower whose circumstances are the same - in other words ...

  • CA asks C&G to compensate more borrowers

    20 Jun 2002

    The Consumers' Association has called upon Cheltenham & Gloucester to proactively compensate all mortgage borrowers who were not offered the lower of the bank's two variable rates. C&G has already agreed to compensate borrowers who complained they were not making repayments at the lower C&G Variable Rate while that rate was available. The decision follows a Financial Ombudsman Service ruling in a test case. But the CA wants C&G to go further. Mick McAteer, senior ...

  • Callcredit improves on-line credit checks

    19 Jun 2002

    Callcredit, the technology-based credit reference company, has enhanced its online credit reference service CallReport. CallReport was launched at the start of the year, and the new version features faster data entry, enhanced name and address matching, and more detailed on-screen credit reports. John McAndrew, sales director of Callcredit, says: "Customer feedback on CallReport has been very positive. Our response to suggested improvements clearly demonstrates the flexibility ...

  • Can you get by without a little help?

    17 Jun 2002

    Kean Seagarof, considers the options open to those who wish to comply with the new regulation regime, suggesting that most will need help with this onerous taskWe do not yet know the exact form that the FSA's rules for general insurance and mortgage advisers will take. We do, however, know how they currently affect the IFA community and it is likely that the rules will be similar in many ways.Most people will find the ...

  • Can't beat the personal touch

    17 Jun 2002

    Individual underwriting beats credit scoring hands downs when it comes to assessing buy-to-let applications, research from Sun Bank reveals. Of 170 brokers questioned, 95% rated underwriters as the best way of determining a buy-to-let applicant's suitability for a mortgage. Only 5% said the same of credit scoring. Two-thirds of respondents say there are fewer than five buy-to-let lenders that rate each application on its own merits, and 90% oppose computerised credit scoring ...

  • CBI economist highlights manufacturing job losses

    17 Jun 2002

    Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser, last week expressed concern that manufacturers were shedding jobs at the fastest rate for nine years. He says: "It is encouraging that overall jobs are still being created without putting any undue pressure on pay inflation. But the further fall in manufacturing jobs is a matter of serious concern with skills being lost, possibly never to return. "The tick upwards in average earnings growth can be easily explained by the unusual ...

  • CML hosts annual lunch in Northern Ireland

    20 Jun 2002

    Minister for social development Nigel Dodds is the keynote speaker at the CML Northern Ireland annual lunch held in Belfast today. Dodds will speak alongside Gary Mills, CML Northern Ireland chairman. Mills will refer to the need to take a longer view of the housing market in Northern Ireland, citing the fact that affordability remains better than in the UK for both existing and first time buyers, in spite of the relatively rapid price rises over the past two years. He ...

  • Confidence still high in lettings

    17 Jun 2002

    New research from Paragon Mortgages shows a strong lettings industry that has not been weakened by the recent high levels of house-price inflation. The findings of the latest quarterly Paragon Mortgages Property Investor Confidence Tracking (PICT) index show higher than expected rental yields, low average gearing and a low level of void periods between tenancies. John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages, says: "This quarter continues to show that most landlords have ...

  • Credit agency ready to receive electoral roll

    20 Jun 2002

    Credit reference agency Equifax is preparing to receive the electronic versions of the 2001 electoral roll from all the UK's councils. The roll has been off limits to credit reference agencies since a court ruling took it out of commercial circulation last year. Now draft government regulations seem set to reinstate access to the electoral register for credit checking purposes, and Equifax is getting ready to load the information onto its database. Neil Munroe, customer ...

  • Customers celebrate with VirginOne

    21 Jun 2002

    VirginOne says that more and more customers are freeing up cash for their own celebrations in the Queen's 50th Jubilee year. More than three million Brits will pass a milestone of their own in 2002 in the form of 21st, 30th, 40th and 50th birthdays, not to mention those people thinking of following the 267,000 couples who tied the knot in 2000, down the aisle. Scott Mowbray, VirginOne marketing manager, says: "First we had the Posh and Becks' World Cup party closely ...

  • Digest

    17 Jun 2002

    Yorkshire website launched Yorkshire Building Society has launched a website that enables the Society's customers to undertake full mortgage application processing online, from initial enquiry and quotation to online approval.

  • Dressing down for Mortgage Next staff

    19 Jun 2002

    Mortgage Next has launched a staff dressing down day to raise money for charity. Each Friday, employees will be able to go to work in casual clothing in exchange for a £1 donation to the Marie Curie Centre in Caterham. The initiative has raised over £600 for the cancer charity so far. Mortgage Next also used England's World Cup clash with Nigeria to raise charity funds. The network organised a raffle after England drew with Nigeria last week, with prizes including ...

  • Endsleigh insurance offers graduate mortgage

    18 Jun 2002

    Endsleigh's new independent financial advice service, Endsleigh Independent Financial Services (trading as Endsleigh Financial Independent Tailoring - EFIT), has worked with Scottish Widows Bank to develop a product specifically for recent graduates. Endsleigh claims the new mortgage will solve some of the problems that young people face, particularly in terms of getting a mortgage when they have very little credit history. For example, graduates may have had several addresses ...

  • Equifax tells borrowers to check their credit

    20 Jun 2002

    Credit reference agency Equifax is urging would-be borrowers to get the low-down on their own credit file before applying for a mortgage. Equifax says this will give consumers a better idea of whether a lender will accept or reject their application, as well as ensure the file offers a fair reflection of their financial status. The service costs £2. Michael Shannon, managing director of Equifax Europe, says: "Consumer credit files provide lenders with the appropriate ...

  • Esure washes hands of flood-risk homes

    17 Jun 2002

    Internet-based insurer esure has announced it will no longer insure properties at risk from floods, prompting fears that other insurers will follow suit. The company says it does not want premiums for other customers to be pushed up by the few who live in flood-prone areas. The change means that home insurance will no longer be offered for houses built on flood plains or in areas prone to repeated flooding. Esure's decision comes a week after the CML called on the Treasury to increase ...

  • Fathers 'more trusted than financial advisers for money advice'

    17 Jun 2002

    A new survey shows people are more likely to trust their dads when it comes to asking for financial advice. Around 88% of people who asked their father for help when deciding on pensions, mortgages or investments said they were glad they followed his recommendations. This compared with 79% who were happy with the advice they got from an independent financial adviser. Only 3% of those questioned who had asked their father for help said they wished they hadn't ...

  • First Adviser.tech regional technology event a success

    17 Jun 2002

    Over 450 adviser delegates attended the Manchester Adviser.tech event this week, sponsored by Microsoft and Origo. Held at the G-Mex Centre, the first of four regional events for 2002, also attracted all the main portals, fund-supermarkets, technology suppliers and more than 20 major life offices. As part of Microsoft's keynote presentation, Fundsdirect announced the expansion of their strategy to launch an integrated dealing and settlement solution for IFAs in the ...

  • FSA publishes annual report

    21 Jun 2002

    The Financial Services Authority has highlighted its work in protecting consumers against endowment mortgage mis-sales in its annual report for 2001-2002. The FSA says: "[We have] continued to work on past sales of mortgage endowments with the aim of ensuring that consumers receive appropriate information from firms. This should help them to decide whether they need to take action and also make them aware of how to complain if they believe they may have been mis-sold. "The ...

  • Government urged to re-think proposals to sell electoral register

    18 Jun 2002

    The Electoral Commission has told the government that it is opposed to proposals contained in draft regulations which would allow for the continued sale of the electoral register to commercial organisations. The government proposes that the full register should be sold to credit reference agencies and an 'edited' register should be available for general sale. The Commission believes it wrong in principle for personal data which is collected compulsorily, for electoral purposes, ...

  • House price inflation 'unsustainable', says Eddie George

    17 Jun 2002

    The current rate of house price inflation is unsustainable, according to the Governor of the Bank of England. Sir Edward George last week warned that the bank will act to curb house inflation with an interest rate rise if it fuelled consumer demand and threatened inflation. But Sir Edward stressed it is not house price inflation that will trigger any rate rise, but its impact on overall consumer demand. In an evidence session to the Commons Treasury select committee ...

  • Housing market 'not heading for crash' say economists

    17 Jun 2002

    Economists are seeking to reassure homeowners that the housing market is not heading for a 1990s-style crash. The Bank of England claimed last week that current price growth is unsustainable. But the economists say prices are more likely to level off for several years than crash. Saxon Brettell, a director at Cambridge Econometrics, says there is still plenty of confidence in the market, wage growth is fairly good and the economy is benign. "The growth ...

  • Improvement awaits

    17 Jun 2002

    Regulation of mortgages is not considered by many intermediaries as a sales tool. This is probably due to lasting memories of regulation in the insurance industry, which was so bureaucratic that it floored many a worthy salesman. While I don't think that mortgage regulation will be anywhere near as onerous, the FSA will be just as weary of the insurance experience. This will create many opportunities for experienced operators who are qualified and fully up to date with all regulatory ...

  • Increase in tied agents is forecast

    17 Jun 2002

    Lenders facing the threat of a depolarised market are looking to tie in mortgage intermediaries in a bid to secure distribution. Thousands of intermediaries may be tempted to let lenders take on their compliance burden or agree to commission payments for tied status. Tony Ward, managing director of Britannic Money, says: "Advisers will have to be regulated with fully-compliant systems and there is certain to be a number of brokers who will be looking for help." And Ward (pictured), ...

  • Intermediary Response

    17 Jun 2002

    David Hollingworth, broker at London & Country, says that the equity in their home means that they probably require a low loan-to-value, which will help them secure a good deal Mr and Mrs Unsworth are in a good position to raise the additional funding they require to make improvements to their property. The total loan they would require would be £25,000 and the income they have from their cleaning business is £12,000. They only need to borrow just over ...

  • Just 1% of brokers support Namba trade body

    17 Jun 2002

    The National Association of Mortgage Brokers and Advisers received a resounding vote of no confidence last week, with just 1% of mortgage brokers offering it support, a survey of 500 mortgage intermediaries reveals. Charles Gooding, chairman of Namba's steering committee, says: "I'm surprised at these figures. The response we're getting from intermediaries is very positive." Julian Jennings, founder and former chief executive of Namba, says: "I have no comment to make ...

  • Launching a new ERA in estate agency

    17 Jun 2002

    ERA ERA is a global estate-agency franchise with 3,000 offices worldwide. The company has recruited five offices in Britain so far, and plans to recruit 500 more over the next five years. ERA Great Britain is the 14th Western European franchise to be set up. The ERA GB service centre (pictured above) is in Colchester, Essex. ERA helps members research locations and acquire suitable premises, as well as identify, recruit and train experienced staff. It costs £12,500 for a start-up ...

  • Leeds & Holbeck extend branch opening hours

    20 Jun 2002

    Leeds & Holbeck Building Society is extending the opening hours of its branches on Saturdays to meet increasing customer demand. From 6 July all except one of the society's 61 branches will open from 9am until at least 1pm on Saturdays, a one-hour extension to the current operating hours. The exception is the Kingsway branch London which does not open on Saturdays at all. Tony Burdin, head of marketing, says the move is being made following customer feedback that showed ...

  • Legal & General technology fits advisers' modus operandi

    17 Jun 2002

    Legal & General's 'store & forward' technology, an integral part of its e-Protection Choices package, enhances the modus operandi of the majority of financial advisers who make sales in customers' own homes, claims research conducted for the company. The new research into the selling styles of IFAs and the company's own business partners shows that 65% of sales are frequently made in customers' own homes. The store & forward technology provided by ...

  • Lender Response

    17 Jun 2002

    Eddie Smith, director of business development at Verso, says there is no reason why older clients can't remortgage and agrees that they should invest in home improvements This sort of scenario will become ever more common in future and not just with clients who have retired early. There is an increasing belief that lack of provision for personal pensions and low annuity rates, combined with a longer-living population, will mean people have jobs even into ...

  • MCCB: 'reveal extent of product range'

    17 Jun 2002

    The MCCB has reminded mortgage advisers to inform clients of their status if they are restricted to their own product range or a panel of a few lenders. The Mortgage Code regulator has also reminded advisers that simply completing a fact-find to eliminate unsuitable products in order to present potentially suitable products for information-only does not constitute advice. MCCB spokesman Brad Baker, says: "The firm should make clear to the customer that the most suitable mortgage ...

  • Moneynetinternational guides the way to buying in Spain

    17 Jun 2002

    Moneynetinternational, a global personal finance resource, has added a free Guide to Buying Spanish Property to its portfolio. The Guide - provided in association with Windram Miller & Co, offers tips and warns of pitfalls on searching for that dream location to costs; from legalities through to dealing with property developers. Richard Brown, managing director of moneynetinternational.com, says: "With some 20% of all our global mortgage service enquiries relating to ...

  • Mortgage Monitor launched

    17 Jun 2002

    A new mortgage service, called The Mortgage Monitor, has been launched that guarantees to monitor your mortgage for the full term of the mortgage for a one-off lifetime payment of just £9.99. The company's objective is to save clients substantial amounts of money by alerting them of remortgaging opportunities so that they can take advantage of, for example, changes in interest rates or one-off discounted mortgages. The popularity of the service is due to the ...

  • Mortgage Talk scoops Legal & General award

    19 Jun 2002

    Rotherham-based introducer Mortgage Talk lifted the trophy for Fastest Growing Business at the recent Legal &General mortgage club awards ceremony at London's Dorchester hotel. Peter Birch, director of Mortgage Talk, says that several factors have helped his company's profile to grow in the last year: "Firstly, our recently launched franchise concept has enabled us to deliver a new business opportunity to estate agents, by allowing them to provide independent mortgage advice ...

  • MP queries endowment profits

    17 Jun 2002

    A Labour backbencher is demanding an investigation into the relative performance of mortgage endowment policies sold by mutuals and PLCs. Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, says the mortgage shortfalls faced by six million endowment holders are partly due to companies "transferring funds, properly due to policyholders, over to shareholders". Gardiner told the House of Commons last week: "Where has all the money gone? The suspicion is that companies have not withheld profits for ...

  • My mortgage week - Martin Maynard

    17 Jun 2002

    Monday: First day of the week and it's a Bank Holiday. It makes a pleasant change not to have to do battle with the traffic on the journey into work. Even better when you can switch on the TV and tune into the World Cup. By later in the day I had fully recovered from the disappointing, if predictable, England result on Sunday and was feeling up-beat and optimistic about our chances against Argentina the following Friday. Tuesday: It's ...

  • New distribution manager at Scottish Widows

    21 Jun 2002

    Scottish Widows has appointed Nathan Moss as managing director of marketing and distribution. Moss will succeed Newton Scott, who retires at the end of this month. The role gives Moss responsibility for Scottish Widows' new business acquisition and marketing activity with IFAs, direct to consumers and through the Lloyds TSB branch network and responsibility for Scottish Widows International. He reports to chief executive Mike Ross. Moss joins from HSBC, where he was ...

  • New Dubai offices for Abbey National

    21 Jun 2002

    Abbey National's three Dubai-based subsidiaries, Abbey National Offshore, Scottish Mutual International and Scottish Provident International, will relocate to new shared premises this month. Ten staff will work across the three brands. Following the acquisition of Scottish Provident International by Abbey National in August 2001, the bank is keen to ensure that all three subsidiary groups build on collective resources in all areas of the business to aid in any further expansion ...

  • New training programme from HSHL

    19 Jun 2002

    Over 40 intermediary firms are to benefit from a new training programme organised by specialist lender High Street Home Loans (HSHL). The training will focus on the underwriting and sales techniques and skills that are an essential ingredient of the modern non-conforming market. Trainers from High Street will visit the offices of its intermediary partners on at least three occasions during an eight-week period. They will put all sales personnel through their paces to ensure they ...

  • Number of qualified advisers increases

    18 Jun 2002

    The number of people completing the Advanced Financial Planning Certificate (AFPC) has increased for the second exam session in succession, the CII has announced. A total of 343 people completed the three examination requirement to be awarded the AFPC following the April 2002 exam session. This compares to 306 who completed the AFPC at the October 2001 session and 295 who completed in April last year. Results were loaded onto the CII's popular internet Results Online ...

  • OFT to crack down on estate agent 'cowboys'

    17 Jun 2002

    The Office of Fair Trading has launched a year-long investigation into the £4bn estate agent sector after a sharp rise in complaints to the Ombudsman from buyers and sellers. The National Consumer Council says that "the law isn't working" to protect consumers effectively from the real culprits, who sidestep the rules and regulations to exploit loopholes and rip off unsuspecting consumers. One of the biggest areas of complaint is fees, which have increased to an average of ...

  • Packagers have no influence on advice claim majority

    17 Jun 2002

    Just one out of three mortgage intermediaries believe packagers influence the advice process, Mortgage Strategy can reveal. While a little over half of those questioned in the Future 500 survey do not believe that packagers influence the advice process, one out of 10 intermediaries remains unsure. The findings will stoke the debate over whether packagers should come under FSA regulation. The CML believes that only packagers that deal with consumers direct, or whom brokers use ...

  • Packagers sacrifice profit for prime clientele

    20 Jun 2002

    Mortgage packaging companies are sacrificing profitability by trying to become big players too quickly, claims sub-prime specialist The Finance Centre. TFC says that packagers are abandoning their traditional sub-prime and non-conforming markets in preference for the prime market. Although packagers may process greater volumes of mortgage applications as a result, their corporate profitability is not benefiting in a similar way. TFC researched the financial performance ...

  • Preferred gets on the Case

    17 Jun 2002

    Preferred Mortgages signed its fifth correspondent-lender relationship last week with packager Case Capital. The packager, part of the Case Funding Centre, Bangor, Ireland, has plans to get into the mainland UK market and opened a branch in Blackpool in May. Simon Biddle, marketing and communications manager at Preferred, told Mortgage Strategy: "Case will have all the benefits of our correspondent-lending proposition - on-site underwriting if required and technological and ancillary ...

  • Principality BS alters identity requirements

    17 Jun 2002

    In line with all other banks and building societies, The Principality Building Society is introducing changes to its procedures for obtaining evidence of identification for new borrowing members. It will cease to accept the Verification of Identity Form after the close of business on June 16. It will accept photocopies of original identity documents, providing they are certified by the mortgage advisor. The introducer must see the original ID documents and they must be supplied ...

  • RICS spies housing slowdown

    21 Jun 2002

    The first signs of a slowdown in the housing market have appeared, says RICS in its latest residential property survey. House prices continue their upward trend, but the pace of increase has stabilised for the first time for five months, with the rate of increase remaining the same as in the previous month. A shortage of suitable homes on the market remains the biggest problem. The average number of properties per surveyor fell for the third consecutive month. The ratio ...

  • Rooker backs sellers' packs

    19 Jun 2002

    Housing minister Lord Rooker says that the government remains committed to introducing sellers' packs for house buyers. A shortage of parliamentary time means that the packs' launch date remains uncertain. In a written reply to parliament, Rooker says: "We are committed to making it easier for people buying and selling homes through the introduction of the seller's pack [which will provide] key information required to enable the transaction to proceed smoothly ...

  • Second charge needs regulation says FSCP

    17 Jun 2002

    The Financial Services Consumer Panel has called for second charge lending to be regulated the FSA. The move was backed by the CML, which says all secured lending, whether first or second charge, should be regulated and the financial limits for second charge and unsecured loans should be removed. The FSCP says that it wants to establish a new service that will offer financial planning advice to the majority of consumers. It says that financial planning advice will be vital ...

  • Service sector scales back pay awards

    17 Jun 2002

    Service sector firms have scaled back wage settlements since the start of the year, according to a CBI survey released today. The CBI's latest pay databank survey shows service company awards falling to average 3.4% in the three months to April. This compares with 4% in the three months to January and 3.9% a year ago. This follows the economic slowdown affecting large parts of the UK service sector at the beginning of 2002. Meanwhile, manufacturing settlements edged ...

  • Slower price rises would put housing market on a sounder footing, says CML

    17 Jun 2002

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders last week re-iterated its view that the current rapid rate of house price increase is unsustainable. It also acknowledged the Bank of England's comments yesterday that the longer prices continue to rise rapidly, the more likely it is that there will be a sharper correction to the housing market. But it continues to believe that a combination of affordability constraints and modest increases in interest rates will produce a soft landing for the housing ...

  • The Intelligent way to get a loan?

    17 Jun 2002

    Mortgage club Mortgage Intelligence is launching personal loan products from Halifax and the Royal Bank of Scotland alongside its mortgage range. The loans are expected to prove popular with first-time buyers who need extra money for home improvements. But consumer watchdogs are asking whether brokers should recommend expensive unsecured loans when borrowers could get cheaper money through a second charge, or by taking a larger mortgage in the first place. Iain MacQueen-Sims, ...

  • The mortgage mole

    17 Jun 2002

    Vision On Hurrah! Mole's occasional bouts of short-sightedness should be a thing of the past from now on, thanks to the surprise addition of a nice pair of binoculars to my every-day garb. Mole won this helpful prize courtesy of those nice people over at Zurich IFA Group - who Mole would like to point out look even nicer now I can actually see them - by correctly predicting the winners at last Monday's races at Royal Windsor. The discovery of this previously untapped talent ...

  • This week's problem case

    17 Jun 2002

    Mr Unsworth lives on the outskirts of London in three-bed semi and has retired early at 50. He runs a contract office-cleaning business with his wife, generating £12,000 a year at present. The couple have around £10,000 left on the existing mortgage. They want to remortgage to release £15,000 for major improvements to the property, with the option to pay the loan off sooner than the original term as they plan eventually to retire to the coast.

  • Time to go hunting

    17 Jun 2002

    Foxes, weasels, toads and sharks. That was the public perception of estate agents three years ago and nothing has changed since. It's about time that these rogues and their dirty tricks were culled but I pity the task that lies ahead for the OFT. I spent several years in the estate agency sector before moving into brokering in 1999. I worked as a sales negotiator and some of the practices that I witnessed were deplorable. The estate agency market as it stands does not work ...

  • Where the money lives

    18 Jun 2002

    House prices are soaring in the south of the country, but it's residents of a suburb in Glasgow who are the nation's wealthiest people, claims a new survey. Research by CACI Information Services found 13% of households in Thorntonhall, south of Glasgow, earn more than £100,000 a year. That figure is matched only by part of Fleet in Hampshire and beats London's wealthiest area, Hampstead, where 12.7% residents enjoy six-figure incomes. Britain's poorest ...

  • Which? hits out at commission payments

    21 Jun 2002

    Which? has criticised commission payments in financial services, which it claims is an incentive for unscrupulous advisers to recommend unsuitable products. Launching a new consumer guide 'Be Your Own Financial Adviser', Which? says: "The commission system can be a less-than-ideal way of paying advisers who, in theory, have their clients' best interests at heart. It means there is a built-in incentive for advisers to recommend products or actions that produce high commissions, ...

  • Why being free isn't always the best

    17 Jun 2002

    Paul Fox says that students will need to have a good knowledge of the subject area of freehold and leasehold estates if they wish to pass the mortgage qualification examsAll mortgage advisers are likely to have a general appreciation of what is meant by freehold and leasehold estate. However, for exam purposes, students need to have a greater knowledge of this subject area. Freehold estate is the best and highest form of ownership of land in ...

  • Why second charge needs regulating

    17 Jun 2002

    The Financial Services Consumer Panel has joined the bandwagon calling for the regulation of second charge mortgage deals. As we report on page 4, the move has been backed by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. All secured lending, whether first or second charge, should come under the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Authority. However, the regulation of second charge mortgage deals falls outside the framework that the government has decided to adopt - first ...

  • You need the Force

    17 Jun 2002

    Mortgageforce is rolling out its training support programme to the market amid fears that up to 10,000 mortgage advisers will fail to qualify ahead of the MCCB's December deadline without hands-on practical help with exams. The company claims that advisers are generally struggling to focus on a robust revision programme and most haven't the first clue about exam techniques. It claims that revision courses run by commercial training organisations are failing to address what it ...

  • ZFS goes non-conforming

    17 Jun 2002

    Zurich Financial Services has entered the non-conforming market. Zurich has launched four branded products through Zurich Personal Finance - part of the joint venture between Zurich and Bank of Scotland. The development follows the launch of an online banking and personal loans service in January. The product range includes one, two and three-year discount mortgages, a professional mortgage for employed individuals or company directors seeking loans of up to 125%, a buy-to-let ...

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