Mortgage Strategy
18 May 2009

  • "Still some way" from normal lending, says Bank deputy

    22 May 2009

    The deputy governor of the Bank of England has expressed concerns that banks are “still some way” from resuming normal lending.

  • 60 seconds with.....Mark Blackwell

    18 May 2009

    How did you cope with the banking collapse, joining Xit2 when you did?It was a baptism of fire. I’ve been here for nine months but so much has happened globally it seems a lot longer. We work in the valuations, conveyancing and repossession markets and while our valuation market share has increased we’ve got a long way to go before we return to what we would class as normal business levels.

  • 65% Of cases shoddily packaged, says Abbey

    18 May 2009

    Abbey has blamed shoddily packaged mortgage cases for delays in its processing and says that at one point 65% of applications from brokers were not up to scratch.

  • A&L increases fixed and tracker LTVs to 70%

    21 May 2009

    Alliance & Leicester is increasing the LTV on some of its trackers and fixed rate deals to 70%.

  • Abbey launches two-year fixes for key accounts

    21 May 2009

    Abbey for Intermediaries is launching two fixed rate deals through its key account partners at up to 70% LTV.

  • Accord launches exclusives with London & Country

    18 May 2009

    Accord Mortgages has launched two exclusive offset products with London & Country.

  • Accord reduces rates on semi-exclusives

    18 May 2009

    Accord Mortgages is reducing the majority of its fixed rates in its semi-exclusive product range, available via its key lending partners.

  • Alison Beech joins Spicerhaart

    18 May 2009

    Alison Beech, former business development director at Rooftop Mortgages, has been appointed business relationship director at Spicerhaart Financial Services.

  • AMI open-minded on broker fees

    18 May 2009

    The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries says it would welcome a debate on whether brokers charging for advice instead of receiving proc fees would be feasible.

  • ARs submitting less risky business, says IMLA

    20 May 2009

    Appointed representatives are producing a higher credit quality of business on a consistent basis, according to two-thirds of lenders that took part in the latest member survey from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association.

  • Asking prices rise 2.4% in May

    18 May 2009

    New sellers pushed asking prices up 2.4% in May in a bid to maintain their position when it comes to buying, the latest figures from Rightmove suggest.

  • Assurant Intermediary appoints BDM

    18 May 2009

    General insurance specialist Assurant Intermediary has appointed Gavin Patman as business development manager.

  • Back the future

    18 May 2009

    We all know about releasing equity from our homes when we're a bit stuck for cash, but how about taking equity from your future?

  • Bank job cuts dubbed "a slap in the face to SMEs"

    22 May 2009

    Business Lending has branded the news of jobs cuts from Lloyds Banking Group’s small business lending division as “a slap in the face” to small and medium-sized firms.

  • Banning proc fees would push up costs for clients

    18 May 2009

    In response to the news that the FSA may axe proc fees, I find this extremely unpalatable (Mortgage Strategy Online).

  • Beware of promises made by rogue commercial brokers, warns NACFB

    18 May 2009

    The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers is warning residential mortgage brokers not to be duped by advertisements from rogue commercial brokers.

  • BM Solutions upgrades One Minute Mortgage application

    20 May 2009

    BM Solutions has revamped its One Minute Mortgage application to include new features and personalised tools.

  • Broker furious as police fail to act on office bugging

    18 May 2009

    A mortgage broker in Cornwall discovered his office was being bugged, only to be told by police that nothing could be done about it.

  • Brokers putting in the hours to secure best rates

    19 May 2009

    Brokers are working round the clock and sacrificing their bank holidays to secure the best rates for their clients, shows research from Abbey for Intermediaries.

  • BSA Conference: Brokers standing in the way of shared ownership

    20 May 2009

    The success of shared ownership schemes may have been hampered by broker involvement, claims the National Housing Federation.

  • BSA Conference: Chairman calls for fairer FSCS

    20 May 2009

    The chairman of the Building Societies Association has called for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to be reformed to make it fairer for mutuals.

  • BSA Conference: FSA hits out at mutual sector

    20 May 2009

    The Financial Services Authority has hit out at building societies' handling of the financial crisis, attacking them for being too slow to react to the downturn.

  • BSA Conference: Rates may rise to pay for FSCS

    21 May 2009

    Building societies believe that mortgage rates may have to rise to pay for higher levies from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

  • BSA elects Graham Beale as new chairman

    21 May 2009

    Graham Beale, chief executive of Nationwide has been elected chairman of the Building Societies Association for 2009/10.

  • Build plans around income protection

    18 May 2009

    When protecting mortgages most individuals think of the need for life cover first and foremost, but is this right?

  • Cash buyers may be warping the market

    18 May 2009

    Talk of a revival in the property market is gathering momentum. Those who are convinced we've passed the low water mark are now speculating on how quickly the market will recover.

  • Celebrity often fails to add value to properties

    18 May 2009

    The house where David Beckham lived as a child failed to sell at auction last week, and did not even reach its guide price of £215,000.

  • Choose your legal contacts with care

    18 May 2009

    You may be surprised to learn that lawyers are among the top 10 professions most at risk as the result of the recession. Others include architects, building contractors and town planners.

  • Clifford may return to broking

    18 May 2009

    Rob Clifford, former chief executive of Mortgageforce, is rumoured to be returning to his mortgage broking roots after leaving his position as UK managing director of Virgin Money after just six months.

  • Cluttons adjusts house price forecast

    19 May 2009

    Cluttons has adjusted its Central London housing market forecast to predict a 10% fall in prices in 2009 with a levelling off in 2010, followed by a return to positive house price growth in 2011.

  • Cluttons predicts house price growth from 2011

    18 May 2009

    Cluttons has adjusted its Central London housing market forecast to predict a 10% fall in prices in 2009 with a levelling off in 2010, followed by a return to positive house price growth in 2011.

  • CML's attempt to blame brokers is sheer fantasy

    18 May 2009

    Despite dual pricing lenders are keen to reassure us that we work in partnership with them. Indeed, many have formed divisions in our honour such as Abbey for Intermediaries, Royal Bank of Scotland Intermediary Partners and now Nationwide for Intermediaries.

  • Don't demonise brokers

    18 May 2009

    Mortgage brokers bore the brunt of criticism at the Financial Services Authority's mortgage conference last week.

  • eGateway teams up with Link Lending

    20 May 2009

    Broker trading platform eGateway is now offering brokers access to Link Lending’s bridging loans and secured second charge loans.

  • EMoneyfacts' B2L calculator claims are misleading

    18 May 2009

    I was surprised to read the claim by eMoneyfacts about its buy-to-let sourcing system and rental calculator, stating that other sourcing systems either require brokers to check rental yield and maximum borrowing figures manually or are only available on a limited range of deals (Mortgage Strategy May 11). This is untrue.

  • Equity release is all about leads

    18 May 2009

    In a recent column I wrote about types of equity release introduction, with the first being referral to a third party. This week I would like to briefly discuss the DIY alternative.

  • Estate agents told my clients to use inhouse advisers

    18 May 2009

    Unless some readers have been living on Planet Zanussi, we are all aware of how difficult it is to survive in the current mortgage market.

  • Evaluate buys Network Data sourcing arm

    18 May 2009

    Evaluate Technologies last week bought Mortgage Linked, Network Data's online mortgage sourcing business.

  • Everyone benefits from high quality broker service

    18 May 2009

    I was interested to read the comments on lenders' service standards by Charles Haresnape, managing director of Mortgages by Phone, in last week's letters pages (Mortgage Strategy May 11).

  • Fewer arrears in B2L than prime sector

    18 May 2009

    Buy-to-let is performing better than the prime sector when it comes to arrears despite a rise in landlord defaults, Moody's Investors Service reveals.

  • Fight crunch on the beaches

    18 May 2009

    Times are hard so I've decided to do my bit for the country and take a staycation this year.

  • Fitch downgrades five building societies

    22 May 2009

    The onslaught on the building society sector has continued with Fitch Ratings today downgrading five UK building societies.

  • Fitch downgrades five UK building societies

    22 May 2009

    The onslaught on the building society sector has continued with Fitch Ratings today downgrading five UK building societies.

  • FSA bans two brokers in the space of a week

    18 May 2009

    The latest mortgage broker to be banned for fraud by the Financial Services Authority submitted 23 fraudulent applications to lenders, including his own.

  • FSA Mortgage Conference

    19 May 2009

    I am en route to speak at today's FSA conference on the mortgage market. The day started early with interviews on Radio 5's wake up to money slot and then on the Today programme on Radio 4. While it's true that the mortgage market makes headlines these days, it's not always for the right reasons!

  • FSA should have seen Network Data problems coming

    18 May 2009

    This must be one of many letters you have received about the shambles that is Network Data.

  • Get in touch with HomeBuy agents

    18 May 2009

    Last month's Budget was significant for the housing and mortgage markets. Among the measures unveiled was the announcement that funding for the government's shared equity HomeBuy scheme was to be extended by £80m.

  • Gross lending falls 60% to £10.4bn

    21 May 2009

    Gross mortgage lending fell to an estimated £10.4bn in April, a fall of 60% from the same time last year.

  • Halifax and BoS align rates to curb dual pricing

    18 May 2009

    Halifax and Bank of Scotland have moved to call time on dual pricing by aligning retention rates across their direct and broker channels.

  • Help borrowers remain flexible

    18 May 2009

    As a company, we are often asked for information on the way our interest rates have moved in the past 10 or 20 years.

  • High hopes for a speedy rebound

    18 May 2009

    Research we completed last week on house prices shows that while some commentators are predicting that a recovery is just around the corner, brokers and IFAs take a more cautious and balanced view.

  • Hole truth

    18 May 2009

    Mole couldn't help but feel slightly offended at the news that Conservative MP John Gummer, former environment secretary and chairman of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, apparently claimed expenses to have moles removed from his country estate.

  • Home Buyer Systems sees surge in training enquiries

    20 May 2009

    Home Buyer Systems says it has experienced a surge in demand for its sales training courses following reports that the FSA is looking to apply elements of the Retail Distribution Review to the mortgage advice sector.

  • Housing starts in the US fall to record lows

    19 May 2009

    Housing starts in the US fell to the lowest level on record in April, suggesting that talk of a housing market recovery is premature.

  • Inflation slows to 2.3% in April

    19 May 2009

    The annual rate of UK inflation slowed in April falling to 2.3% from 2.9% in March.

  • It is clear the CML cannot keep its own house in order

    18 May 2009

    As a small broker I find the CML's comments about brokers last week a disgrace (Mortgage Strategy Online).

  • John Charcol sees sharp rise in first-time buyer activity

    20 May 2009

    Confidence started returning to first-time buyers at the beginning of this year shows the John Charcol Index, the monthly mortgage activity monitor from the mortgage adviser.

  • Judges refuse to deal with claims companies that submit weak cases

    18 May 2009

    Judges are beginning to turn away a number of claims management companies and refusing to look at their cases.

  • Landlords turn to tenants on benefits

    18 May 2009

    An increasing number of landlords are turning to housing benefit claimants to fill vacant properties.

  • Law firm highlights concerns over FSA's RDR

    18 May 2009

    A report by international law firm Pinsent Masons has found worryingly low levels of confidence within the financial services industry in the FSA's Retail Distribution Review.

  • Leadbay trials phone qualified leads

    21 May 2009

    Leadbay is to phone borrowers requesting advice to check they are in a position to proceed on their requested mortgage before passing their details on to brokers.

  • Lloyds TSB launches 95% LTV for first-time buyers

    20 May 2009

    Lloyds TSB is launching a Lend a Hand mortgage, which offers first-time buyers a 95% LTV deal at 4.39% by taking a legal charge on a savings account belonging to their parents. The deal is available only through its branches.

  • Losing the plot

    18 May 2009

    Repossession figures have been rising for some time, with poor home owners having to up sticks and move after losing the battle with mortgage payments.

  • Marketing Innovation Forum urges diversification

    19 May 2009

    Research from the Marketing Innovation Forum reveals how advisers think struggling brokers should diversify.

  • Marketwatch 18/05/2009

    18 May 2009

    Swaps had a strange week. They started to edge up but once the Bank of England's quarterly inflation report was released they dropped back.

  • Media Spotlight: The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson

    18 May 2009

    As philosopher George Santayana famously put it in his book Reason In Common Sense, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

  • Mixing drinks

    18 May 2009

    Mole conjured up some potent concoctions last week at a cocktail-making evening, courtesy of the kind folk at Exact.

  • More FTBs seek mortgage advice

    18 May 2009

    The number of first-time buyers looking for whole-of-market advice reached a new high in April, data from Unbiased.co.uk reveals.

  • Mortgage Advice Bureau partners with Assurant Intermediary

    21 May 2009

    Mortgage Advice Bureau has teamed up with Assurant Intermediary and will offer Assurant’s accident, sickness and unemployment cover to its clients.

  • Mortgage innovation is alive and flipping well in Westminster

    19 May 2009

    When it came to innovation and housing finance I had thought Lord Mandelson was streets ahead of the competition with his Britannia Piggy Back Mortgage.

  • Mortgage Intelligence teams up with Utility Warehouse

    18 May 2009

    Mortgage Intelligence has become an authorised distributor of the Utility Warehouse Discount Club.

  • Mortgage mistake

    18 May 2009

    There was more outrage last week when it emerged Labour MP Elliot Morley had claimed £16,000 in expenses for a mortgage that had already been paid off.

  • Mortgage products up but broker activity down

    19 May 2009

    The May TrigoldCrystal Product Index shows the number of live mortgage products available to brokers has risen by 3% from March to 2,858, but broker activity has fallen 57% year-on-year.

  • Mortgageforce now has presence in 42 West Bromwich branches

    18 May 2009

    Mortgageforce revealed last week that it now has a presence in 42 branches of parent group West Bromwich.

  • MPs claimed for "phantom" mortgages, reports reveal

    18 May 2009

    House of Commons officials signed off on MPs inflated claims for “phantom” mortgage payments, reports allege.

  • MTE passes millionth transaction landmark

    18 May 2009

    The Mortgage Trading Exchange has revealed that more than one million transactions have been processed via the platform since its launch.

  • NACFB unveils system to track cases and clients

    18 May 2009

    The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers has developed the first back office customer management system designed for commercial finance brokers.

  • Nationwide gives brokers a more user-friendly site

    18 May 2009

    Nationwide for Intermediaries has overhauled its website following broker feedback calling on the lender to make it more user-friendly.

  • Network Data and MBSL ARs given chance to jump ship to Openwork

    18 May 2009

    Network Data Limited's chief executive last week sought to distance herself from the network, with a partnership deal to transfer appointed representatives to Openwork.

  • Network Data appoints administrators

    22 May 2009

    Network Data Holdings has announced that following months of speculation over the network's future it has finally appointed administrators.

  • New flats await rural exiles

    18 May 2009

    House prices have fallen 20% from their peak in the summer of 2007, while the number of sales is down 50%, as is the volume of mortgage lending.

  • Over a third of equity release shoppers go online

    18 May 2009

    Research from Equity Release Solicitors’ Alliance has found that 35% of equity release customers shopped for their product online.

  • Paragon Group sees pre-tax profits of 15.9m

    19 May 2009

    Paragon Group has reported a pre-tax profit of £15.9m for the six months to March 31, down from £26.4m at the same time last year.

  • Paragon posts interim pre-tax profit of £15.9m

    19 May 2009

    Paragon Group has reported a pre-tax profit of £15.9m for the six months to March 31, down from £26.4m at the same time last year.

  • Paymentshield simplifies quotations

    18 May 2009

    Paymentshield has revamped its Inertia quotation software to strip out product defaults from premium quotes and allow brokers to more effectively compete with direct-to-consumer cover.

  • Peter Beaumont returns with rent-back firm

    18 May 2009

    Peter Beaumont, former deputy chief executive of defunct lender Mortgages PLC, has returned to the mortgage market and set up a sale-and-rent-back firm.

  • Private bank products available on Trigold

    18 May 2009

    Private bank products are now available via Trigold Prospector, in the first move of its kind in the mortgage market.

  • Promise reports surge in new brokers

    18 May 2009

    Loan master broker Promise Solutions has seen a record month in April for new brokers registering to use its loan sourcing and packaging service.

  • Rates rising on long-term fixes, says Moneyfacts

    19 May 2009

    The cost of the average fixed-rate deal has risen in the last month, with borrowers wanting long-term deals seeing rises of up to 0.20%.

  • Repossessions forecast too gloomy, says CML

    18 May 2009

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has branded its previous prediction of 75,000 repossessions this year pessimistic, despite the number of homes being repossessed increasing by over a quarter in Q1 2009.

  • Rescue scheme is all talk as usual

    18 May 2009

    Only one household has been approved for the government's mortgage rescue scheme since January. Should we be surprised?

  • RICS predicts 50,000 repossessions this year

    19 May 2009

    The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is predicting there will be 50,000 repossessions this year, which would be someway below the highs seen in the early 1990s.

  • Self-cert nonsense shows FSA has lost touch with reality

    18 May 2009

    I no longer recognise the world the FSA seems to live in.

  • Sesame launches GI training programme

    18 May 2009

    Sesame is launching a general insurance training programme to help brokers' support staff write business.

  • Sir Victor Blank to retire as chairman of Lloyds

    18 May 2009

    Lloyds Banking Group's chairman Sir Victor Blank has revealed he will not be seeking re-election as chairman.

  • Steve Haggerty takes role at Crown Westfalen

    18 May 2009

    Steve Haggerty, former managing director of Skipton, has been appointed group chief executive of Crown Westfalen UK.

  • Taking the blame

    18 May 2009

    Times of trouble are supposed to bring people together but there was a distinct lack of solidarity at the Financial Services Authority's mortgage conference last week.

  • Tax changes make offsets appealing

    18 May 2009

    The Budget has received widespread industry scrutiny in the past few weeks, not least in the pages of Mortgage StrategyMost mortgage professionals have focussed on the benefits of measures such as the extension of the £175,000 Stamp Duty threshold and the £80m boost to the HomeBuy Direct scheme.

  • The end of the world has been cancelled for now

    18 May 2009

    Spring is in the air and the end of the world has been postponed. Confidence is slowly returning and there is a general feeling of optimism in the air, including an improvement in consumer confidence.

  • This is more than a dead cat bounce

    18 May 2009

    It's been great to hear so many good news stories recently. The best was the US Federal Reserve saying the recession will be over by Christmas and the worst of the credit crunch is behind us.

  • Time for market to turn over a new leaf

    18 May 2009

    Our recent mortgage conference highlighted plenty of enthusiasm as well as a determination to change the industry, but also offered some stark reminders about the differences in opinion over what needs to be done.

  • Time to unlock the potential of equity release

    18 May 2009

    A niche sector in which I've taken a particular interest for a number of years is equity release.

  • Twittering can help build your brand

    18 May 2009

    Until recently I thought Twitter was just a fad for teenagers akin to Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, but in the past couple of months I've come to realise it may have uses as a business tool.

  • Two rescue reports, two approaches

    18 May 2009

    Two reports caught my eye last week. The first is from the Institute of Public Policy Research and the second from the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries. Both seek to address fundamental problems in the mortgage market.

  • UK inflation falls to 2.3%

    19 May 2009

    The annual rate of UK inflation slowed in April falling to 2.3% from 2.9% in March.

  • UKFI looks abroad to sell bank stakes, say reports

    19 May 2009

    UK Financial Investments, the company managing the government’s stakes in part-nationalised banks, is reportedly looking to foreign investors to buy up its holdings in the banks.

  • Up-market?

    18 May 2009

    Statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show a trend that should warm the cockles of any mortgage broker’s heart, and indeed any in the property market, in that loans for house purchases have gone up 29% on last month.

  • US-style help for first-time buyers urgently required

    18 May 2009

    There's an old economic saying that when the US sneezes, the world catches a cold.

  • Vision Network hosts Business Solution Forums

    19 May 2009

    Vision Network is hosting a series of Business Solutions Forums to help brokers develop their business and increase income.

  • Ways to boost your business for free

    18 May 2009

    I've just finished presenting at the Sesame Mortgage Live events across the country and have to tell you that while some network members are seeking ways to meet their challenges, many are less than positive about the future.

  • West Brom denies FSA rescue talks

    18 May 2009

    West Bromwich Building Society has today made assurances it is well capitalised following reports that the Financial Services Authority has secretly approached rivals over a rescue deal.

  • West Brom dispels takeover rumours

    19 May 2009

    West Bromwich Building Society has made assurances it is well capitalised following reports that the Financial Services Authority has secretly approached rivals over a rescue deal.

  • Wheelspin

    18 May 2009

    Mole tore up the track at Silverstone last week, courtesy of the lovely folk at Abbey.

  • Woolwich goes live on Sesame's tranche system

    18 May 2009

    Woolwich has become the first lender to go live on Sesame’s online mortgage tranche management system.

  • Yorkshire boss calls for FSA to probe pricing

    18 May 2009

    Iain Cornish, chief executive of the Yorkshire, is calling on the Financial Services Authority to look into how lenders price for risk.

Poll

Should the Financial Conduct Authority be more intrusive than the Financial Services Authority?

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