Mortgage Strategy
28 March 2011
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60 seconds with...Stephen Smith
28 March 2011
Stephen Smith, Director of housing, Legal & General
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Adviser banned for £1.5m scam
28 March 2011
The Financial Services Authority has banned mortgage broker Rienzie Albert Joseph Asoka Silva from carrying out regulated activities, after taking £1.5m from clients’ accounts.
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An elusive feeling of well-being
28 March 2011
The government is spending £2m on trying to measure our sense of satisfaction with our lives but surely it can’t expect a positive outcome given the state of the economy and housing industry. Looks like we need to wait for the MPC to take us to a more sustainable market
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Bank employee has no idea what brokers have had to endure
28 March 2011
Andrew Montlake, in his blog on Mortgage Strategy Online last week titled ’Another one bites the dust’, said he was sad to hear that Cheltenham & Gloucester has pulled out of the intermediary market.
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Best manager and player for March get their rewards
28 March 2011
The two winners of this month’s Top Of The League competition have been announced.
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Borrowers should plan for a rate hike
28 March 2011
MICHAEL COOGAN, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, COUNCIL OF MORTGAGE LENDERS
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Budget promises cut in Corporation Tax
28 March 2011
Chancellor George Osborne announced in last week’s Budget that Corporation Tax will be cut from 28% to 26% in April and reduced to 23% by 2014.
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CAN YOU HAVE A POP TO WIN THIS BOTTLE OF MIGHTY FINE CHAMPAGNE?
28 March 2011
Nonagenarian Tom Lakey on one of his wing walks
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Capital gains
28 March 2011
The housing market across the country is still stuck in the doldrums but not in London, where foreign buyers are flooding the market, funded largely by private banks. By Samuel Dale
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Ecology's lending for 2010 reached £14.5m
28 March 2011
Ecology Building Society has reported gross mortgage lending of £14.5m for 2010, up from £12.6m in 2009.
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Economic tracker
28 March 2011
Our monthly economic tracker provides data and expert commentary on the health of the housing market
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Embracing Solvency II standards
28 March 2011
This year will be a crucial one for insurance firms as they gear up for the implementation of new European solvency legislation in 2013. But they must be careful to create business models that are flexible and fit for purpose, and not overcomplicate them
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Equity release and risk of living longer
28 March 2011
JON KING, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MORE2LIFE
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FirstBuy initiative won't help anyone apart from builders
28 March 2011
It was interesting to see chancellor George Osborne’s Budget for first-time buyers - interesting in the sense that although there has been a change in government there has clearly been no change in thinking.
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FSA shows its teeth with probe of rent-back firm
28 March 2011
The Financial Services Authority is already investigating a sale-and-rent-back firm for bad practices and misconduct, less than a year after regulating the sector.
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FTB scheme will end up in the same place as others - nowhere
28 March 2011
There was nothing particularly new about the government’s £250m first-time buyer shared equity scheme for new-build properties that was announced in the Budget last week.
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Fuel duty cut by 1p and April rise postponed
28 March 2011
Fuel duty has been cut by 1p per litre and the planned 5p rise in April has been postponed.
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Funding cuts trigger fraud fears as police force says it has to axe probes
28 March 2011
Fears are growing that mortgage fraud is no longer a priority for police, following reports that one force has approached a lender to say it will no longer investigate fraud due to reductions in its budget.
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Government should leave housing alone so prices can settle
28 March 2011
With regard to the FirstBuy initiative, if successive administrations stopped chasing short-term PR brownie points and let the market settle, house prices would sort themselves out.
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Growth is forecast, but it will be gentle
28 March 2011
Growth is predicted to be 1.7% for 2011, 2.5% in 2012, 2.9% in 2013, 2.9% in 2014 and 2.8% in 2015.
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I wonder how some lenders will defend raising their SVRs
28 March 2011
With all the recent talk of possible base rate increases, a thought struck me the other day about lenders that have an SVR that’s higher than the norm.
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Industry warns FirstBuy initiative will have little impact in isolation
28 March 2011
The government’s FirstBuy initiative is a the drop in the ocean in terms of how many first-time buyers it will help, say mortgage trade bodies.
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Inflation expected to fall to 2.5% next year
28 March 2011
The government expects inflation to remain between 4% and 5% for the rest of the year, dropping to 2.5% in 2012 and 2% in two years.
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Information I give my customers is better than advice given by mortgage brokers
28 March 2011
STAR LETTER
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Investing in leads to get a decent return
28 March 2011
JUSTIN REES, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND PARTNERSHIPS, LEADPOINT UK
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LAST WEEK'S WINNER
28 March 2011
“Having checked its interest rates, I reckon my local building society is full of comedians too.”
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Leader: B2L boom comes at a price
28 March 2011
The news last week that direct-only Metro Bank is looking to enter the buy-to-let sector adds to a growing number of lenders keen to capitalise on the rental boom.
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Lloyds and RBS meet lending commitments
28 March 2011
Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland met their mortgage lending commitments made in last year’s Budget. Lloyds group delivered £23.5bn in gross mortgage lending in the 12 months to February 2011, compared with its commitment of £23bn, with RBS delivering £9.4bn compared with a net commitment of £8bn.
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Lloyds staff finally tasting medicine we have had to swallow
28 March 2011
A self-employed broker over the last three years has seen his income fall by 75%.
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Long journey to work makes Terry Pritchard quit Alt-FS
28 March 2011
Terry Pritchard has resigned as director of distribution at Alt-FS, blaming the long commute from his home on the South Coast to London for his decision.
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Manager of the month - March
28 March 2011
David Miles, Spicerhaart, Managing Director
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Marketwatch
28 March 2011
Lloyds group has done the sensible thing in shutting down C&G and I don’t get how brokers can accuse it of turning its back on them. Meanwhile, Accord and Skipton have got some great deals going
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Media Spotlight: Moving Forward
28 March 2011
Edited by Nicolas Retsinas and Eric Belsky
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Metro Bank joins the rush into the buy-to-let sector
28 March 2011
Metro Bank is planning to launch into the buy-to-let sector later this year.
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Mitigation won't end mortgage crisis
28 March 2011
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More deals for customers planning to buy in France
28 March 2011
Connect Overseas has launched a range of mortgage deals for French properties in association with Lloyds International.
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Mortgage Brain and Trigold kiss goodbye
28 March 2011
Mortgage Brain and TrigoldCrystal say the decision to terminate their merger plans was mutual following the Office of Fair Trading ruling.
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Mortgageforce's buyout from West Brom is done
28 March 2011
The management at Mortgageforce has completed the purchase of brokerage from West Brom Building Society for an undisclosed fee.
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N&P sees its profits fall £48.9m into the red
28 March 2011
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society made a pre-tax loss of £48.9m in 2010 following a pre-tax provision of £57m for Keydata investments, compared with a pre-tax profit of £900,000 for 2009.
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No joy for lenders in the Budget
28 March 2011
Last week’s Budget had little by way of good news for lenders. The £250m fund for first-time buyers choosing a new-build property is a welcome shot in the arm for developers and the property sector. And the Stamp Duty change so that bulk property purchases are able to pay a rate based on the mean value of dwellings purchased, subject to a minimum rate of 1%, should boost the rental sector.
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OFM Group's fate to be decided in creditors meeting
28 March 2011
A creditors meeting is to be held this week to decide the future of mortgage brokerage OFM Group.
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On the interest-only high wire
28 March 2011
Interest-only mortgages have proved their worth by underpinning market growth, but that reward is countered by the risks of borrowers failing to make sufficient provision to pay off their loan. So lenders have to adopt a strategy to balance their lending in this area
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OpenConvey joins hands with Brilliant Solutions
28 March 2011
Online conveyancing portal OpenConvey has teamed up with Brilliant Solutions to offer its white-labelled conveyancing engine.
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Player of the month - March
28 March 2011
Sharon Varley, Market Street Mortgages, Director
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Plenty of value in overseas markets
28 March 2011
LIZ SYMS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CONNECT OVERSEAS
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Pressure builds on MPC as rising inflation reaches three-year high
28 March 2011
Further pressure is being piled on the Monetary Policy Committee to increase interest rates after it was revealed last week that inflation rose to 4.4% in February.
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Rock securitisation may indicate start of many such deals this year
28 March 2011
Northern Rock plc’s £370m launch back into the securitisation market could herald an increase in secu-ritisation transactions this year.
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Rough Justice
28 March 2011
Slashed police funding means forces are likely to neglect mortgage fraud a at a time when is rising. This will leave the industry even more vulnerable and having to fend for itself
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Santander broker boss becomes fifth senior name to jump ship to Lloyds
28 March 2011
Lloyds Banking Group has poached a fifth senior recruit from Santander UK.
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Sector dogged by poor confidence
28 March 2011
Secured loan business fell 21% in January to £21m, down 19% com-pared with January 2010, figures from the Finance & Leasing Association show.
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Skipton offers two-year direct-only fixed rate
28 March 2011
Skipton Building Society has launched a range of mortgages, including a direct-only 95% LTV two-year fix at 6.49%.
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SMI extension prompts calls for its rate to be increased
28 March 2011
The government has been urged to increase the rate at which Support for Mortgage Interest is calculated, following the extension of the scheme in last week’s Budget.
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Stamp Duty change welcomed as boost for buy-to-let
28 March 2011
Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that Stamp Duty on bulk purchases will be calculated according to mean value has been welcomed as a boost for the buy-to-let market.
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Takeovers pay off as profits rise at Sesame Bankhall
28 March 2011
Sesame Bankhall generated operating profits of £5m in 2010, compared with £3m in 2009, the results of its parent group Resolution have revealed.
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The mortgage mole
28 March 2011
DIGGING THE DIRT IN THE MORTGAGE WORLD…
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Third of landlords chose to increase rents in Q1
28 March 2011
Nearly a third, 32%, of landlords have increased rents in Q1, research from Paragon Mortgages shows.
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Three rebels fail to win support for base rate hike
28 March 2011
Three members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted for a rise in the Bank of England base rate in March, the same number of alternative votes as in February.
