Mortgage Strategy
19 September 2011
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Taxes are a mess and Stamp Duty must go, says IFS
19 September 2011
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has called for Stamp Duty to be abolished in a damning review of the UK tax system.A report by the IFS published last week claims that the taxation of housing is a mess and contributes to an inefficient market.It calls for Stamp Duty to be scrapped and for Council Tax to be reformed so that payments are based on up-to-date values rather than the 1991 valuations currently being used.Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, ...
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Xit2 develops a tool to check on conveyancers
19 September 2011
Xit2 has launched The Lender Conveyancer Exchange tool that allows lenders to vet conveyancers. Xit2 will carry out data checks and physical visits to conveyancers’ premises to do necessary checks.
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60 seconds with...
19 September 2011
Dominik Lipnicki, Director, Your Mortgage Decisions
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Abbey lowers rates and unveils three-year fix
19 September 2011
Abbey for Intermediaries has cut rates on a range of its two, three, four and five-year fixed mortgage products by up to 1.10%.It has also launched a three-year fix at 3.19% with no fee up to 70% LTV.
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Achieve goals with a management system
19 September 2011
SOPHIE HALL, DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR, INTELLIFLO
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August inflation hike fuels expectation of 5% peak this year
19 September 2011
Inflation looks set to hit its 5% peak before the year-end, after a modest increase in August.Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show Consumer Price Index inflation rose to 4.5% in August, up from 4.4% in July, while the Retail Prices Index increased to 5.2% from 5% in July.Many economists predict inflation will peak at 5% before the end of 2011, then fall again.Jonathan Loynes, chief european economist at Capital Economics, says ...
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August shows highest monthly rent rise in 2011
19 September 2011
Rents registered their largest monthly increase in a year in August, rising by 1.2% to an average of £713 per month, according to LSL Property Services’ latest buy-to-let index.
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Barratt claims low LTV lending is suppressing demand for new homes
19 September 2011
Barratt Developments has criticised lenders for their stringent mortgage criteria on new-build homes, claiming they are disadvantaging house builders by limiting the maximum LTV they will lend on new-build.In its annual results for the year ended June 30, Barratt says the restricted availability of mortgage finance is a key reason for low housing demand, which has weakened its financial performance over the past year.It says mortgage finance is particularly restricted ...
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Bogus broker given a suspended sentence
19 September 2011
A man masquerading as a broker has been convicted of fraud after pocketing a £5,000 arrangement fee from a client. The Birmingham Mail reports Mohammed Aslam was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years and 250 hours of unpaid work.
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Brokers should stay ahead of the RDR
19 September 2011
The market is full of talk of the looming Retail Distribution Review, due to come into play in January 2013.
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CAN YOU HAVE A POP TO WIN THIS BOTTLE OF MIGHTY FINE CHAMPAGNE?
19 September 2011
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Chesterton buys stake in Springtide
19 September 2011
Property consultant Chesterton Humberts is acquiring a stake in mortgage firm Springtide Capital.Chesterton has not revealed the size of its investment but as part of the deal Springtide will operate as Chesterton’s exclusive intermediary for mortgage referrals.Chesterton’s investment will enable Springtide to expand its London and Edinburgh operations and develop its proposition in the South-West and Midlands through Chesterton’s network of offices.
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Complaints on MAS advert rejected
19 September 2011
The Advertising Standards Authority has rejected adviser complaints about a television advertisement by the Money Advice Service which claimed it offers free, independent advice.The ASA launched an investigation into the government-funded service in July after it received 80 complaints.Its advert included a voice-over claiming that “Our advice is independent and unbiased”.Complainants claimed the reference to advice was misleading, arguing MAS provides ...
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Dean Jones takes on role of Leadbay managing director
19 September 2011
Dean Jones, former head of Paaleads.com, has joined Leadbay as managing director.He joined Paaleads.com, part of Moneysupermarket.com, in July 2006 and is understood to have left his role as head of the firm last year to work in the commercial department of Moneysupermarket.com.Leadbay’s parent Add Momentum Innovations went into liquidation last December. The lead firm was bought by Mitchell Farrar and relaunched this year.Mitchell Farrar kept on ...
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Deposit requirement has gone up almost 10-fold
19 September 2011
The average deposit has risen from £6,793 in 1990 to £65,924 in 2011, says First Direct.
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Economic gloom is keeping a lid on property sales
19 September 2011
Uncertainty surrounding the economy kept property sales depressed in August, the latest housing market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors shows.The number of sales per surveyor over the three months to August dipped slightly to an average of 14, taking transactions back to June 2009 levels. Meanwhile, average stocks on surveyors’ books fell from 70 in July to 67 in August.When asked why sales continue to be subdued, 79% of surveyors cited ...
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Ensure your client relations are strong
19 September 2011
The Financial Services Authority’s recent report on the mortgage market showed the number of deals originated by intermediaries has declined.
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E-petition will lobby for claims firms to pay out
19 September 2011
Mortgage Strategy is calling for claims firms to be made to pay for unsubstantiated claims against brokers by launching a government e-petition.After hearing from scores of brokers who are wasting time and money dealing with spurious claims related to payment protection insurance, Mortgage Strategy is urging brokers to sign its e-petition and lobby their local MPs.Our Make Claims Firms Pay petition says firms should be forced to pay a £500 fee to the Financial ...
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Fitch confirms rating of RMBS from sub-prime lenders
19 September 2011
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the rating of a residential mortgage-backed security originated by Advantage Home Loans, Amber, GMAC-RFC and Victoria Mortgage Funding due to its stable arrears levels.Fitch says the affirmation of ResLoC UK 2007-1’s rating is a reflection of the relatively stable performance of the non-conforming RMBS’ underlying assets in the past year, despite a small rise in the volume of loans in arrears.As of June 2011, the volume of loans in ...
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Google's mortgage site does a disappearing act
19 September 2011
Mystery surrounds what has happened to Google’s UK mortgage comparison website, which is no longer appearing at the top of its paid for searches.In July Mortgage Strategy reported that Google was piloting a mortgage comparison website Compare UK Mortgage, which contained sponsored links from a number of lenders such as Woolwich, ING Direct, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and NatWest.An external link to the website still works but when key phrases ...
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Having fun benefits staff and business
19 September 2011
If you don’t shake things up once in a while you’re either likely to lose the plot or die of boredom.
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Hinckley & Rugby offers two-year deal at 2.59%
19 September 2011
Hinckley & Rugby Building Society has launched a two-year fixed rate at 2.59% available up to 75% LTV with an arrangement fee of £295 and a completion fee of £695.
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HML confirms FSA investigation is over but is tight-lipped on outcome
19 September 2011
HML says the Financial Services Authority investigation into the firm, which was revealed in its 2010 accounts, has ended.
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How I would sort out the UK's housing market if I was the chancellor for the day
19 September 2011
I was recently asked what I would do to help the property market if I was chancellor. I hadn’t thought about it before as it’s not something I am usually asked, but I guess I should not have been surprised as I am known for my political correctness.
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ICB's report stops short of forcing Lloyds group to sell more branches
19 September 2011
The Independent Commission on Banking has held off from ordering Lloyds Banking Group to sell more than the 632 branches it has already agreed under European Union obligations.The bank was required to sell the branches as a result of the government bailout it received during the financial crisis, but the ICB’s interim report recommended the number of branches included in the sale be significantly increased.However, in its final report last week, the ICB recommends ...
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In my opinion: Build up your defences against fraudsters
19 September 2011
Fraud in the UK is a billion-pound illegal business with fraudsters targeting perceived weaknesses in systems. Be it individuals misrepresenting their own circumstances to obtain services that would otherwise be out of reach or the threat of identity fraudsters masquerading as someone else, fraud continues to be a major cause for concern among mortgage providers.
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Jobless hike bolsters call for QE
19 September 2011
An 80,000 rise in the number of unemployed people in the UK has added weight to calls for the Bank of England to extend its quantitative easing programme.Figures from the Office for National Statistics last week show the total number of unemployed increased by 80,000 in the three months to July to reach 2.51 million the largest quarterly hike since the three months to August 2009.The number of jobless people aged between 18 and 24 rose by 77,000 over the quarter ...
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July's fall takes average house price to £207,690
19 September 2011
House prices fell 1.5% year-on-year in July, data from the Department for Communities and Local Government shows. Prices were up 0.3% compared with June, taking the average house price to £207,690.
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LAST WEEK’S WINNER
19 September 2011
MARIO RABAIOTTI
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Lenders are clamping down as too many clients have been badly sold interest-only
19 September 2011
Star Letter
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Literally speaking on the origins of names for rooms
19 September 2011
Property, like everything else, evolves over time. House details these days refer to things like entertainment rooms or, if you are really upmarket, cinemas and gymnasiums.
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Marketwatch
19 September 2011
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Media Spotlight: The Rational Optimist
19 September 2011
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Movers and shakers celebrate our success
19 September 2011
Mortgage Strategy marked its 10th birthday in style last week at the plush Corinthia hotel in London.The great and the good of the industry congregated at the event to enjoy fine wine and entertainment into the wee hours of Thursday night.Mortgage Strategy was launched as the mortgage industry’s first weekly trade magazine on September 21 2001.The brainchild of Patrick Ponsford, publishing director at Centaur Media, and launch editor ...
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MS Leader: Ambulance-chasers beware
19 September 2011
Mortgage Strategy kicks off its Make Claims Firms Pay campaign this week. The objective is simple we want the government to include a clause in the Financial Services Bill whereby claims firms are made to pay a £500 fee to the Financial Ombudsman Service for every claim against a broker that is deemed to be without merit.
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News on rates has been generally good
19 September 2011
Good news from Halifax its product transfer and further advance booking system is back. This is useful as for some existing clients it’s worthwhile to stay.
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Nurture signs of life in the FTB market
19 September 2011
Our BDMs are reminding introducers that while much of the emphasis in the market this year has been on buy-to-let and the return of a remortgage market, first-time buyers should not be ignored.
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Precise trims rates on near-prime products
19 September 2011
Precise Mortgages has reduced rates across its near-prime deals. Fixed rates have been cut by 0.6% and start at 5.24%.
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Priorities change for those thinking of switching firms
19 September 2011
As a result of salary freezes, benefit reductions, bonus cancellations, extra work and hours forced on them by their employers, many employees are feeling undervalued.
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Private rentals can fill the housing gap
19 September 2011
I read with interest a report by the National Housing Federation which called on the government to take action against the housing market crisis.
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Protection benefits for Connells as it links with Sesame
19 September 2011
Sesame Bankhall has announced a partnership with Connells that will see the network provide a range of protection services and products to its 450 mortgage consultants.
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Regulator bans broker and fines him £250,000
19 September 2011
The Financial Services Authority imposed its second largest fine on a mortgage broker last week for misleading the regulator and submitting false mortgage applications.It has banned Selvavinayakam Vigneswaran, the sole director of Futture Finance Limited, and fined him £250,000.The largest fine was in June 2010 to John Charalambous, trading as TFA in Sidcup, Kent. He was fined £294,500 for mortgage and life insurance fraud.In October 2007, the FSA ...
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Remortgage drop in Q2 likely to be trend for next quarter too, says FSA
19 September 2011
Remortgage business as a proportion of new lending fell from 38% in Q1 to 34% in Q2 2011, and is set to drop further in the coming months, according to the Financial Services Authority.
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Remortgaging funds portfolio growth
19 September 2011
Landlords raising capital to finance the expansion of their portfolios are behind a rise in buy-to-let remortgage activity, according to Paragon Mortgages.Council of Mortgage Lenders data shows remortgaging accounted for more than two-thirds of a 21% increase in buy-to-let gross lending between Q1 and Q2, and Paragon says capital raising was the primary motivation for remortgaging.Research by the lender shows that 47% of buy-to-let remortgages handled by brokers ...
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Santander RMBS shows market is on the mend
19 September 2011
Santander has issued a £2.5bn residential mortgage-backed securitisation through the Holmes Master Trust programme.The deal, which is named Holmes Master Issuer Series 2011-3, is made up of five classes of notes, four of which have been assigned a provisional AAA rating by Moody’s.It is the 20th issuance from Santander’s Holmes programme, which is worth a total of £11bn. The deal is backed by a portfolio of loans with an average LTV of 66.4% and 2.04% of its ...
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Specialisation can work for advisers
19 September 2011
When the credit crunch took hold and the mortgage well ran dry most brokers did the only sensible thing diversified.
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The Mortgage Mole
19 September 2011
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Week in NUMBERS
19 September 2011
£65,924 The average cost of a deposit for a first-time buyer in 2011, a 1,000% rise on 1990 when it was £6,793, says First Direct.
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Wilson's journey
19 September 2011
Since its parent group was bought by Lloyds TSB in 2009, Halifax Intermediaries has gone through many changes, not all which have been embraced by brokers. But its head of sales Ian Wilson says the company welcomes their feedback and is working hard to resolve issues and bring the best products to market
