Mortgage Strategy
31 March 2008

  • Sesame guide on equity release

    31 Mar 2008

    Sesame has unveiled a consumer guide to help brokers inform clients about equity release.

  • $200000000000 Questions…

    1 Apr 2008

    "Would you describe the nationalisation of Northern Rock as a rescue, as saving it or as a salvage job? For the record, something sal-vageable is capable of being used or re- constructed in spite of being damaged, but is unlikely to have been improved by the experience.

  • THE VAT DEBATE

    4 Apr 2008

    As the VAT debate continues, Mortgagedistributor.co.uk has got its hands on a copy of what one accountant advises when it comes to whether mortgage clubs and packagers should be paying VAT.

  • 2,000 Products pulled in a month

    31 Mar 2008

    Lenders have withdrawn more than 2,000 products in the past month, says eMoneyfacts. co.uk. Denise Harvey, mortgage analyst at the website, says: "In the past month alone we have seen the number of deals in the residential and buy-to-let sectors plunge from 7,726 to 5,700."

  • 60 jobs at risk at Swift

    31 Mar 2008

    Swift says it's in consultation with 60 staff regarding possible job losses.

  • A government spin on HIPs trials

    1 Apr 2008

    The National Association of Estate Agents is concerned that the Department for Communities and Local Government is trying to cover up much of the MORI research into the home information pack area trials.

  • A&L unveils residential and B2L deals

    4 Apr 2008

    Alliance & Leicester is launching residential and buy-to-let ranges from April 8.

  • Accord withdraws prime three and five-year fixes

    1 Apr 2008

    Accord Mortgages will withdraw a range of its fixed rate deals as of close of business tomorrow. These include a range of its prime three and five-year fixed rates and three and five-year remortgage fixed rates. The lender says that replacement products has yet to decide whether to launch replacements.

  • All change for secured loans sector

    31 Mar 2008

    The reformed Consumer Credit Act is about to become law so it's worth looking at how it will affect the second charge sector, especially if brokers want to diversify, says Bill Warren

  • Are brokers advising their clients too early in the remortgaging process?

    31 Mar 2008

    One expert says brokers have to revisit borrowers earlier due to the lack of available deals while the other is unsure whether this is having a negative effect

  • Astra Mortgages has not seen a fall in new business

    1 Apr 2008

    Astra Mortgages, which was laun-ched on 10 March as the broker brand of Norwich and Peterborough, says there has been no let-up in its volume of new business.

  • AToM accuses regulator of failing to tackle fraud

    31 Mar 2008

    Vic Jannels, chairman of All Types of Mortgages, says police enforcement in the mortgage industry highlights the failure of industry regulators to combat fraud.

  • B2L investors' gearing falls

    31 Mar 2008

    Buy-to-let investors' gearing has declined to 36% - its lowest level since May 2007, Paragon Mortgages has revealed.

  • Balance, transparency and hype

    1 Apr 2008

    Sally Laker, managing director of Mortgage Intelligence, looks at how the continuing liquidity crisis is damaging confidence in the commercial world and changing the relationship between lenders and brokers

  • BDS Secured Loans extends commission incentive

    31 Mar 2008

    BDS Secured Loans, the Fareham-based master broker, is extending its 10% extra commission incentive until the end of April 2008.

  • BDS Secured Loans extends extra commission offer

    31 Mar 2008

    BDS Secured Loans is extending its 10% extra commission incentive until the end of April.

  • Beacon attracted by Gravity system

    31 Mar 2008

    Beacon Mortgages has become the 13th lender to sign up to the Gravity back office system, which is designed to generate decisions in principle within three hours.

  • Benefits of a government sukuk

    1 Apr 2008

    Humphrey Percy, CEO of the Bank of London and the Middle East, comments on the government's commitment, restated in the Budget, to develop a UK government sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of a bond

  • Bernanke admits US recession is possible

    3 Apr 2008

    Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has admitted that an American recession is possible.

  • Blackandwhite owes creditors £3.7m

    31 Mar 2008

    Blackandwhite Group's estimated creditor bill totals a staggering £3.7m, of which £9,454 is owed to the Financial Services Authority.

  • BM Solutions sees increase in packaged business

    2 Apr 2008

    BM Solutions has seen an increase in the percentage of packaged cases it has received, since the second half of 2007.

  • BoE broadens range of eligible collateral for loans

    31 Mar 2008

    Bank of England governor Mer-vyn King last week extended the collateral that can be used as security for its short-term loans to include mortgage-backed securities.

  • BoE governor warns banks face radical change

    1 Apr 2008

    Banks are “extremely likely” to face radical change and far tougher rules to stave off any future crises, the Bank of England governor has warned.

  • BoE head of markets calls for fresh regulatory stance

    3 Apr 2008

    Paul Tucker, head of markets at the Bank of England, says the banking system is in need of a fresh regulatory approach to adapt to the new risk environment.

  • BoE piles in cash to boost confidence

    1 Apr 2008

    The governor of the Bank of England has pledged extra liquidity to the money markets in a bid to re-store market confidence.

  • British borrowers would opt for 25-year deals

    4 Apr 2008

    A large proportion of British borrowers would opt for 25-year fixed rate mortgages, FairInvestment.co.uk claims.

  • Brits will emigrate to get on ladder

    31 Mar 2008

    Fairinvestment.co. uk says that 44% of Brits would move overseas to buy property. The price comparison website's research shows that 8% of respondents have already bought their first property abroad.

  • Broker accuses Halifax of breaking agreement

    31 Mar 2008

    Halifax is under fire from a broker who claims it reneged on an informal agreement with him over customer retention.

  • Brokers are not driven by proc fees and long-term deals aren't best for clients

    31 Mar 2008

    I must take issue with Mike Lazenby's comments in your March 24 issue. Would he like to substantiate his outrageous comments that brokers are driven by commission so it's not in their interests to sell 25-year products and that the majority of mortgages sold by them are not necessarily the best deals?

  • Brokers must meet clients' needs rather than their own

    31 Mar 2008

    I read with interest the comments made by Rob Jupp last week (Mortgage Strategy,/i March 24) and wholeheartedly agree with him.

  • Brokers must put borrowers first

    31 Mar 2008

    Brokers trying to retain customers long before their loan dates expire could be in danger of putting their businesses before their clients' needs, says Julian Wells

  • Brokers warned over inaccurate applications

    4 Apr 2008

    Consumer website Moneynet.co.uk is warning borrowers that applications submitted with insufficient supporting information or poor credit history are likely to be rejected out of hand.

  • Buildloan launches 85% LTV lifetime tracker with TMB

    4 Apr 2008

    BuildLoan is now marketing a lifetime tracker product from The Mortgage Business.BuildLoan, the intermediary arm of self-build and renovation specialist BuildStore, says the tracker is offered at bank rate plus 2.44% for the length of the term.It is available for up to 85% LTV to self-builders, renovators, convertors and home improvers.

  • Business picks up in West Midlands

    2 Apr 2008

    A West Midlands based broker claims that the housing market has actually quickened rather than slowed down in her neck of the woods.

  • Call for empty homes to be brought back into use

    1 Apr 2008

    More than 80,000 empty homes in the South-East could help tackle the region's housing shortage if they were brought back into use, according to Henry Oliver, policy adviser at the Empty Homes Agency.

  • Call for lenders to abandon caution is misplaced

    31 Mar 2008

    I read with interest the recent press release from All Types of Mortgages, which quoted Vic Jannels urging lenders to be less cautious.

  • Chance to regenerate branches

    1 Apr 2008

    Andrew Levers, head of propositions at N4 Solutions, believes the FSA's Retail Distribution Review will provide lenders with an opportunity to refocus on their branches and improve communication with their customers

  • CHL to make 50 redundant

    1 Apr 2008

    CHL Mortgages is to shed some 50 jobs as part of its plan to slash mortgage business in the coming months. The specialist lender and subsidiary of Irish Life & Permanent said it plans to focus on credit quality and margins in future.

  • Clock is ticking to get cases to Lehmans

    2 Apr 2008

    Packagers and brokers have been given until 5pm today to get cases to Lehman Brothers' two UK brands Southern Pacific Mortgage Limited and Preferred Mortgages.

  • CML backs cautious lenders

    31 Mar 2008

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has rejected Vic Jannels' call for lenders to abandon their cautious approach to business.

  • Commercial data now sensitive

    1 Apr 2008

    Julien Holmes, managing director of Crown Mortgage Management, warns that the sectors in the commercial lending market that are both suffering most and are likely to have been overvalued are the ones that make up the greater part of the UK property market

  • Commercial First suspends new lending activity

    1 Apr 2008

    Commercial First has suspended all new commercial lending, saying that its existing funding facilities have been fully utilised and planned new arrangements have failed to materialise.

  • Completions to fall in Ireland

    31 Mar 2008

    House completions in Ireland will fall to 50,000 this year from more than 78,000 in 2007 before recovering in 2009, according to Dr Dan McLaughlin, group chief economist at Bank of Ireland.

  • Connells adopts Key software

    1 Apr 2008

    Connells estate agents has signed on to use the Key, Mortgage Brain’s business management, mortgage sales and compliance process system.

  • Co-operative Bank reveals £26m profit nosedive

    3 Apr 2008

    Co-operative Bank has revealed its operating profit dived by £26m to £50.4m last year, after it was forced to writedown £31.8m in investments.

  • Crime Ring

    31 Mar 2008

    Tragedy visited Mortgage Strategy editor Robyn Hall last week, woth the theft of his beloved mobile phone.

  • Crown unveils commercial risk assessment service

    1 Apr 2008

    Crown Mortgage Management has launched a commercial risk assessment service for lenders and investors that want to im-prove their understanding of the risk profiles of their commercial mortgage portfolios.

  • CurriculumVitae: Peter Curran

    31 Mar 2008

    "You control your own destiny"

  • Dark menace of the black swan

    1 Apr 2008

    John Rowland, analyst at Cicero, castigates Alistair Darling's lack of urgency over long-term fixed-rate mortgages, arguing that while some say market events have overtaken the Miles agenda the truth is quite the reverse as 'black swan' events must now be borne in mind

  • Darling's gold goes cold

    1 Apr 2008

    Ian Moore, business development executive, HML, believes the chancellor's gold standard concept might have something to offer. But the timescale suggests it's likely to be a long-term fix while the market needs relief now

  • Darlington's marathon man to drive sport in the North East

    1 Apr 2008

    We were delighted to learn that Peter run-a-marathon-at-lunchtime Rowley (well almost), chief executive of the Darlington Building Society, has been appointed as the new chairman of Sport England North East (SENE). The people up there can expect a lively time during his three-year spell in office.

  • Dear Delia...

    31 Mar 2008

    Dear Delia, My client is looking to get a foot on the housing ladder but only has savings of around £6,000. He has seen many lenders raising their minimum deposit to 25% and as a result is reviewing his options. What would you advise him to do?

  • Distributors join force in open letter to intermediaries

    2 Apr 2008

    Distributors in the mortgage market have joined forces and written an open letter to all intermediaries, asking them to be patient with lenders.

  • Dunfermline joins Paradigm panel

    31 Mar 2008

    Dunfermline has joined Paradigm Mortgage Services' lender panel, granting Paradigm members access to its products including discount and tracker rates, as well as shared ownership deals. The move takes Paradigm's panel total to 38.

  • Easier2move calls for consumer push by HIPs stakeholders

    1 Apr 2008

    Easier2move is calling for Home Information Packs stakeholders to work together to ensure HIPs deliver the intended benefits.

  • ECBC to create a covered bond trade platform

    1 Apr 2008

    The European Covered Bond Council is investigating plans to replicate the telephone-based trade practices that dealers prefer with an online trading system.

  • Equity release set to boom

    31 Mar 2008

    Explosive growth is imminent in the equity release sector, according to Safe Home Income Plans.

  • European Commission launches NR probe

    2 Apr 2008

    The European Commission has launched an investigation into the government’s rescue of Northern Rock.

  • Fear and loathing in the money markets

    31 Mar 2008

    Easter is now behind us and turning from the spiritual to the temporal, while these past couple of weeks have bordered on the apocalyptic there's been little time for reflection.

  • Fighting fraud starts at the mortgage application stage

    1 Apr 2008

    Tom Parker, managing director of Quest, describes how using pattern-matching technologies during the valuation process can help in the battle to prevent new cases of mortgage fraud

  • Finance teaching gets poor marks from Ofsted

    1 Apr 2008

    Teaching personal finance in a cross-curricular programme - for example, within a maths syllabus or as part of citizenship studies - is not as effective as focusing on the subject in its own right.

  • Financial Dance-Off

    3 Apr 2008

    As the financial industry lurches upon the rough seas of the liquidity crisis some interesting theories have begun to emerge with regards to the circumstances we all find ourselves in.

  • Firms say crisis will worsen

    31 Mar 2008

    A whopping 97% of UK businesses predict credit conditions will worsen during the next six months.

  • First Direct suspends lending to new customers

    2 Apr 2008

    First Direct has suspended lending to all new customers as a result of an application backlog.

  • FISA adopts new approval process for surveyor panel

    31 Mar 2008

    The Finance Industry Standards Association, the secured loan industry’s self-regulatory and compliance body, is undertaking a series of changes to its approval process for surveyors wishing to be included on its panel, FISAVal.

  • Fitch downgrades A&L rating

    31 Mar 2008

    Fitch Ratings has downgraded Alliance & Leicester's long-term issuer default rating to A+ from AA-. It says the action reflects the lender's weak access to funding. Its short-term IDR has also been downgraded to F1 from F1+. Fitch says this reflects A&L's weak prospects for profitability thanks to higher funding costs and possible write-downs on its structured credit portfolio. A Fitch statement says: "These ratings take account of the uncertainty surrounding the UK market. A&L's capitalisation

  • Fitch encouraged by regulatory support of UK social housing

    4 Apr 2008

    Fitch Ratings says it is encouraged to see regulatory support of its analytical approach to rating the UK social housing sector.

  • Flat-pack opportunity

    31 Mar 2008

    First-time buyers in Gateshead will have access to affordable housing thanks to BoKlok flat-pack homes.Residents will move into the UK's first BoKlok development in May, having met the criteria of earning between £15,000 and £35,000 per year and never having owned a home.The initiative, already successful in Scandinavia, offers a range of home ownership options including part-purchase deals.Prices range from £99,500 for a one-bedroom flat to £149,950 for a three-bedroom townhouse.

  • Following in the footsteps of Adam

    1 Apr 2008

    We're not referring to Adam of the Garden but of Kirkcaldy's first son, Adam Smith, and his self-appointed heir and Kirkcaldy's second son, Gordon Brown.

  • FSA to target firms' arrears processes

    31 Mar 2008

    The Financial Services Authority has pledged to review firms' arrears management practices after discovering a number in breach of its arrears rules.

  • FSF calls for changes to the financial system

    1 Apr 2008

    The Financial Stability Forum is calling for changes to be made to the financial system in order to address the current market downturn.

  • GMAC-RFC postpones hiring sales staff

    31 Mar 2008

    GMAC-RFC has no plans to re-place three key sales executives who have quit the firm in the past six weeks.

  • Great and good to gather at Summit

    31 Mar 2008

    There are only eight weeks to go until iMortgage Strategy's Mortgage Summit 2008. With almost 100 top delegates in attendance, the Summit is set to be one of the most important events in this year's industry calendar.

  • Green Budget moves fail to take off

    31 Mar 2008

    Chancellor Alistair Darling's efforts to cut airlines' carbon emissions and reduce consumers' reliance on single-use plastic bags could have unforeseen negative results, says Katie Tucker

  • Green guilt and living in the red

    1 Apr 2008

    Lord Goldsmith, whose razor sharp legal mind was taxed to the full when he had to declare the regime-changing invasion if Iraq was legal, has proved himself equally adept at serving his new master, Gordon Brown, choosing the Tuesday of Budget week to reveal the conclusions of his five-month investigation into British citizenship.

  • Halifax slams payment shock horror stories as 'misleading'

    3 Apr 2008

    Halifax's chief economist has labelled the bulk of predictions warning that UK borrowers will be hit by massive payment shock as "misleading".

  • Halifax to launch FTB range on Monday

    4 Apr 2008

    Halifax will launch on Monday a dedicated range of products for first-time buyers, quashing rumours that it was set to mirror First Direct and suspend lending.

  • Helping the disabled keep their homes

    31 Mar 2008

    Some time ago I wrote about grants, which are an important consideration when advising cli-ents on equity release.

  • Heritable put on negative watch by Fitch

    1 Apr 2008

    Heritable Bank and its Icelandic parent group Landsbanki have both been placed on ratings watch negative by Fitch Ratings.

  • Home of Choice upgrades Ignition service

    4 Apr 2008

    Mortgage network Home of Choice has chosen focus:360º from Focus Solutions, supplier of whole office solutions to the financial services market, to upgrade its existing mortgage point of sale solution - Ignition.

  • House price growth hits lowest level for 12 years

    31 Mar 2008

    House price growth has slowed to its lowest level in 12 years, says the latest Nationwide House Price Index.

  • House price growth slows to lowest level in 12 years

    31 Mar 2008

    House price growth has slowed to its lowest level in 12 years, says the latest Nationwide House Price Index.

  • House prices fall for the sixth month in a row, says Hometrack

    31 Mar 2008

    House prices have fallen for the sixth consecutive month, says property research firm Hometrack.

  • House prices stayed static in February

    3 Apr 2008

    House prices in England and Wales remained static on average during February with no monthly price change, says the Land Registry.

  • Housing crash bets are off

    31 Mar 2008

    Betting exchange service Cantor Spreadfair has revealed a shift in confidence among its clients, with most saying that a housing market crash is unlikely.

  • How building societies performed

    1 Apr 2008

    - a reporting season round-up

  • How confident are you about the future of the UK economy?

    31 Mar 2008

    The Confederation of British Industry published a sobering report on the economy last week. The CBI lowered its prediction for GDP growth in 2008 by 0.2% to 1.8% and expects even slower growth next year. Its forecast comes on the back of ongoing turmoil in the credit markets. So, this week Mortgage Strategy asks…

  • Jobs go at Paragon

    31 Mar 2008

    Paragon is set to axe up to a third of its workforce after Mortgage Trust’s new business processing function was transferred from Epsom to Solihul, the buy-to-let lender confirmed this morning.

  • John Charcol seeks investment or sale

    31 Mar 2008

    John Charcol remains on the prowl for a buyer or investment despite a £1.5m cash injection by the company's directors.

  • KRS and Teachers become partners

    31 Mar 2008

    Teachers has entered the equity re-lease market via a partnership with Key Retirement Solutions.

  • Lehman Brothers may temporarily stop lending

    31 Mar 2008

    Lehman Brothers is considering suspending lending at its two UK mortgage lending divisions Southern Pacific Mortgage Limited and Preferred Mortgages.

  • Lehman-backed lender orders Irish loans freeze

    1 Apr 2008

    An Irish sub-prime lender backed by Lehman Brothers has stopped issuing new house loans because of the credit crisis.

  • Lehmans rumoured to be set to axe UK lending arms

    1 Apr 2008

    Rumours are rife that Southern Pacific Mortgage Limited and Preferred Mortgages are both set to be wound up by parent group Lehman Brothers.A source close to the firm confirmed yesterday that it was looking at suspending lending at both of its UK divisions, but they refused to be drawn as to whether it could lead to a full scale withdrawal from the UK market.

  • Lehmans weighs up lending suspension

    31 Mar 2008

    Lehman Brothers is considering suspending lending at its two UK mortgage lending divisions Southern Pacific Mortgage Limited and Preferred Mortgages.

  • Lenders are rejecting applications out of hand, warns Moneynet.co.uk

    3 Apr 2008

    Moneynet.co.uk is warning borrowers that applications submitted with insufficient data or poor credit history are likely to be rejected out of hand.

  • Lenders bite the hand that feeds them by going direct

    31 Mar 2008

    I was disappointed to discover that Woolwich has brought out a three-year fixed rate product for purchases and remortgages at 5.29%, with free valuations for the latter.

  • Lenders give rate change notice

    31 Mar 2008

    Coventry and Godiva have given brokers five working days' notice of their next product updates. Last week the lenders said they would accept pipeline business until tomorrow prior to revamping their ranges.

  • Lenders' proc fees don't stack up

    31 Mar 2008

    Brokers are paid less per hour than binmen, so lenders should beef up the proc fees they pay to better reflect the work that brokers put in and the value they add, says Rob Clifford

  • Lenders will choose brokers with care

    31 Mar 2008

    The commercial mortgage sector has seen several lenders withdraw from it recently, mainly due to a lack of money. These lenders were re-liant on securisation to maintain the funding lines necessary for them to write new business and the last successful commercial fund securitisation in the UK was in November 2007.

  • Let's get together for the greater good

    31 Mar 2008

    Easter is a good time to reflect. The year is well underway and all those new year resolutions have been long forgotten, unless you have a will of pure steel.

  • Let's hope stability holds up

    1 Apr 2008

    David Smith, economics editor of the Sunday Times, says the UK's challenge is to avoid getting into a US-style situation as the housing market enters an era of uncertainty with a nationalised mortgage lender

  • Liquidity crisis wipes out 23,000 products

    3 Apr 2008

    Mortgage sourcing system Trigold believes the gap in product availability is far wider than previously reported with 23,000 mortgage products wiped from the intermediary market in the last six months.

  • Loanoptions appointment

    31 Mar 2008

    Loanoptions.co.uk has appointed Ray Ronan as a consultant to develop its relationships with the broker market.

  • London Economics looks at role of non-credit bodies

    1 Apr 2008

    London Economics has been commissioned by the European Commission's DG-Internal Market to look at the role and regulation of non-credit institutions in EU residential mortgage markets.

  • MAB rebrands for 2008

    31 Mar 2008

    The Mortgage Advice Bureau is rebranding for 2008 to ensure it continues to deliver an effective service to customers.

  • Mark Blackwell to leave A&L

    31 Mar 2008

    Mark Blackwell, director of intermediary sales at Alliance & Leicester, has been made redundant after just a few months in his role.

  • Market Watch 31 March 2008

    31 Mar 2008

    Swaps surged last week so needless to say, we'll see the lenders that didn't reprice the week before doing so. Meanwhile, some lenders that have already repriced will probably do so again. Three-month Libor is still hovering around the 6% mark.

  • Me and my ipod - 31 March 2008

    31 Mar 2008

    My iPod top 10 is a mixture of old school classics, contemporary songs from the world's biggest artists, a bit of culture and the Baggies' signature tune from my youth, says Phil Whitehouse

  • Mform rejects remortgage fears

    31 Mar 2008

    Mform.co.uk says remortgaging fears are being overblown as a result of the liquidity crisis. Research by the website shows that average LTVs for borrowers buying in the past three years range from 58% to 68%. This puts customers who are remortgaging this year in a stronger position than many had feared.

  • More pain before first-timers gain

    1 Apr 2008

    Michael Coogan says that the way things are going, if he had £200,000 he'd either buy a US bank or a large mattress and stuff the money under it

  • Mortgage approvals fall by a third in one year

    2 Apr 2008

    The latest data from the Bank of England shows that new mortgage approvals have dropped by a whopping 37% over the last year.

  • Mortgage Next Packaging offers 90% prime self-cert

    1 Apr 2008

    Mortgage Next Packaging is launching a prime self-cert mortgage available to 90% LTV, available with two and three-year fixed rates and two-year tracker options.

  • Mortgage Next unveils prime 90% LTV deal from Kensington

    1 Apr 2008

    Mortgage Next Packaging is launching a prime self-cert mortgage available to 90% LTV.

  • Movers and shakers

    1 Apr 2008

    A Street sign of the timesIs it a sign of the times that Alison Hutchinson used to run Kensington mortgages as managing director while her replacement under the new Investec regime, Keith Street, has the title of head of Kensington? Prior to his appointment at the beginning of March, Street (pictured right) was director of sales at Kensington for six years. According to Kensington's PR team, "with nearly 20 years in the mortgage industry", he has "all the experience ...

  • MP calls for FSA overhaul

    31 Mar 2008

    The damning internal re-view of the Financial Services Authority's blunders in the Northern Rock affair shows the regulator needs a "root and branch" reform.

  • MPLC withdraws all fixed rate deals

    31 Mar 2008

    Mortgages PLC has withdrawn all fixed rate products in a bid to control new business volumes.

  • MS columnist quits law firm

    31 Mar 2008

    Alan Dring has quit as sales and marketing director of Goldsmith Williams after just four months at the legal firm.

  • MTE scheme rewards loyalty

    31 Mar 2008

    The Mortgage Trading Exchange is launching a loyalty reward programme. The scheme, which provides rewards including Supercar racing and free flights to the US, will run from April through to March next year. It enables customers to qualify for rewards based on the number of transactions processed via the platform during the promotional period.

  • Mutual bins deals and hikes rates

    31 Mar 2008

    Nationwide has withdrawn its two-year tracker and fixed rate deals and hiked its remaining fixed rates by 0.2%.

  • Name that lives on for wrong reasons

    31 Mar 2008

    The infamous Peter Rachman bequeathed his name to the language thanks to his exploitation of immigrant tenants in the 1950s and involvement in the Profumo scandal, says Simon White

  • Natalie Martin

    4 Apr 2008

    It may not seem like it at the moment, but somewhere in among the current problems in the market there lays a silver lining and it is directed at packagers.

  • Nearly 60,000 UK households at risk of repossession

    4 Apr 2008

    Nearly 60,000 homes in the UK are at high risk of repossession, government figures reveal.

  • Negative ratings watch for Heritable

    1 Apr 2008

    Heritable Bank and its Icelandic parent group Landsbanki have both been placed on ratings watch negative by Fitch Ratings.

  • Network Data Group reports pre-tax loss of £1.1m

    1 Apr 2008

    Network Data Holdings annual results for the year ending December 2007 show that the group incurred a pre-tax loss of £1.1m against a profit of £0.3m for 2006.

  • Network Data Group reports pre-tax loss of £1.1m

    1 Apr 2008

    Network Data Holdings annual results for the year ending December 2007 show that the group incurred a pre-tax loss of £1.1m against a profit of £0.3m for 2006.

  • New Banking Code unveiled

    31 Mar 2008

    The new Banking Code and Business Banking Code contain an enhanced promise by banks and building societies to treat customers fairly and reasonably. Other improvements to the Banking Code effective today include a fresh commitment to responsible lending, including more help for customers heading towards financial difficulties.

  • New blueprint for US regulation

    1 Apr 2008

    The US Treasury has unveiled its blueprint for the biggest overhaul of financial regulation since the 1929 stock market crash.

  • New mortgages in Ireland predicted to fall by 30%

    1 Apr 2008

    New mortgage business in the Irish Republic will fall by 30% this year, compared with 2006, according to the heads of two of the country's largest home loan providers.

  • News is all around and most of it's bad

    31 Mar 2008

    Technology is a wonderful thing. Thanks to the wonders of high-tech development, global news is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As stories unfold around the world, news agencies feed through their reports and in the blink of an eye we can get up-to-date with events as they happen.

  • Northern Rock reveals £167.6m loss for 2007

    31 Mar 2008

    Northern Rock made a loss of £167.6m for the full year 2007 – and handed chief executive Adam Applegarth a £785,000 severance pay-off.

  • NR to lend £5bn each year

    31 Mar 2008

    Northern Rock will lend around £5bn each year during the next three to four years, its executive chairman reveals.

  • On Track

    31 Mar 2008

    Two members of staff at Kensington Mortgages’ head office in Reading dusted down their Oyster cards to take part in a sponsored Tubeathon recently to raise money for Sports Relief.

  • One positive thing about the NR affair

    31 Mar 2008

    The Financial Services Authority's report into its handling of the Northern Rock crisis reveals some startling facts. But rather than rake over the litany of its errors, there is a case for defending the regulator.

  • Orbiter set for April launch

    31 Mar 2008

    Orbiter will launch in April with a panel of 30 lenders, with a whole of market proposition scheduled for the end of the year. The sourcing system says it would like to be as easy to use as eBay.

  • Over 1 million vulnerable borrowers to receive advice from MAT

    1 Apr 2008

    1.4 million borrowers likely to face higher mortgage costs in 2008 as a result of payment shock will receive advice literature from the Money Advice Trust and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

  • Over a third of landlords risk committing a civil offence

    31 Mar 2008

    Almost one year on from its introduction, 40% of UK landlords are still unaware of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme leaving them at risk of committing a civil offence and being forced to pay tenants three times the deposit amount.

  • Overcome fear of outsourcing

    1 Apr 2008

    Colin Greaves, operations director at Newcastle Building Society, explores why outsourcing is not just a strategy for big players but can be a viable option for all businesses in these turbulent times

  • Packager bolsters lender panel

    31 Mar 2008

    Exclusive Connections has appointed Money Partners to its lender panel. Its members can now access Money Partners' products, which range from heavy adverse to a new two-year fixed rate with no early repayment charge.

  • Packagers fear FSA scrutiny could prompt cuts

    4 Apr 2008

    Fears have arisen that the Financial Services Authority could start to look more closely at lenders' distribution models, which could force some to reduce their panels.

  • Packaging sector is feeling the strain

    31 Mar 2008

    It was back in May 2007 when I realised that what had been a lucrative period for packagers was coming to an end and the sector was beginning to feel the strain of what we now know as the liquidity crisis.

  • Paragon has axed one third of its workforce

    31 Mar 2008

    Paragon has axed up to a third of its workforce after Mortgage Trust’s new business processing function was transferred from Epsom to Solihul, the buy-to-let lender confirmed this morning.

  • Partnership plan could improve on MPPI, says JRF

    1 Apr 2008

    A partnership between government, lenders and borrowers would provide a cheaper alternative to mortgage payment protection insurance, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

  • Perry to head sales and marketing at HML

    3 Apr 2008

    Mike Perry, former director of sales at Amber Homeloans, will take over as director of sales and marketing at Homeloan Management from April 14.

  • PI overhaul threat to brokers

    31 Mar 2008

    Brokers have been warned they could risk losing millions of pounds thanks to an overhaul of professional indemnity clauses by policy providers.

  • Planning for wild cards

    1 Apr 2008

    Should Northern Rock’s board have seen the credit crisis coming? And what should we be looking out for next? Alan Standley, CEO of TASK Executive Communications, follows up last month’s article, Stay in touch with the future, with tips on how to anticipate the unexpected

  • PNG mortgages provided inhouse

    31 Mar 2008

    Premier Network Group's referral service to Trilogy Financial Services only covers pensions, investments and equity release. Life and general insurance plus mortgage deals are handled inhouse.

  • Pocket money to be regulated by the FSA from April 1

    31 Mar 2008

    I welcome the announcement that from April 1 pocket money given to kids will be regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

  • Primrose Associates becomes Paradigm partner

    31 Mar 2008

    Primrose Associates has become the latest firm to sign up as partner members of Paradigm Mortgage Services, the mortgage partnership proposition.

  • Primrose Associates joins Paradigm

    31 Mar 2008

    Primrose Associates has joined Paradigm Mortgage Services as a partner member.

  • Proc fee offer with SMS analysis system

    31 Mar 2008

    Solent Mortgage Services is offering brokers enhanced proc fees when they use its Solent Enquiry to Application System.

  • PTP volumes 136% up on March 2007

    31 Mar 2008

    Personal Touch Packaging processed 700 mortgage applications this month - a 136% rise on its March 2007 volumes.

  • Radical change awaits banks

    1 Apr 2008

    Banks are “extremely likely” to face radical change and far tougher rules to stave off any future crises, the Bank of England governor has warned.

  • RBS Intermediary Partners revamps product range

    1 Apr 2008

    RBS Intermediary Partners is revising its product range from today.

  • Readers reject Darling's call for long-term deals

    31 Mar 2008

    A massive 81% of Mortgage Strategy Online readers will refrain from encouraging clients to consider long-term fixed rates. Just 19% will comply with the chancellor's desire to bolster the take-up of long-term fixed rate deals.

  • Regulation is a funny old game

    31 Mar 2008

    Soon after the late and not so great Robert Maxwell came to a briny end, my son bought me a delightful board game that gave me hours of pleasing schadenfreude.

  • Regulator admits it made NR errors but says bank was an extreme case

    1 Apr 2008

    More than half a year on from the spectacle of desperate savers queuing outside branches of Northern Rock waiting to withdraw their money, the Financial Services Au-thority has admitted its supervision of the bank was unacceptable and that the resources allocated to this were inadequate.

  • Regulator gets prosecutor status

    31 Mar 2008

    Chancellor Alistair Darling is beefing up the Financial Services Authority's power to tackle financial crime by awarding it specified prosecutor status. This will allow the regulator to offer immunity to informants providing details of criminal activities. Specified prosecutor status is already held by tax officials, the director of public prosecution and the Serious Fraud Office.

  • Rents rise to a peak in February

    31 Mar 2008

    Average rents rose to a peak of £11,886 in February from £11,604 in January, says Paragon’s latest Buy-to-Let Index.

  • Return to lender

    31 Mar 2008

    As the mortgage market contracts remortgaging is becoming more important and brokers have a fight on their hands to stay in the game, says Bob Hunt

  • Rock on 5 Billion a year lending target

    31 Mar 2008

    Northern Rock will lend around 5bn each year during the next three to four years, its executive chairman reveals.

  • Running sore

    31 Mar 2008

    Disaster also struck eConveyancer's plucky Vanessa Blount last week.

  • S&S director to join advisory company

    31 Mar 2008

    Former Stroud & Swindon commercial director Paul Chafer will join M2 Financial at the end of May.

  • Salt withdraws all residential products

    4 Apr 2008

    Salt has withdrawn all residential products as a result of unprecedented business volumes over the last 24 hours.

  • Santander agrees to buy RBS's European consumer business

    4 Apr 2008

    Santander, the Spanish parent bank of Abbey, has agreed in principle to buy Royal Bank of Scotland’s European consumer lending business.The company provides credit cards and direct consumer loans in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, and had average assets of €2.2bn and 2.3 million customers last year.

  • Savings inflows surge at building societies

    2 Apr 2008

    Building societies saw the highest February inflow of savings for more than 10 years last month, the Building Societies Association reveals.

  • Six in the City - 31 March 2008

    31 Mar 2008

    The FSA must work hard to ensure stability in the savings sector, says Laura Stavro-Beauchamp

  • Skipton launches £799 fee on SVR deals

    4 Apr 2008

    Skipton has told brokers that new clients must stump up a £799 fee to apply for its SVR mortgages.

  • Society man who relishes insights from seats of power

    1 Apr 2008

    As chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society and chairman of the Building Societies Association, Iain Cornish is dealing with the credit crisis at both an operational level and as a lobbyist looking to safeguard the interests of lenders and of the mutuals in particular

  • Some areas to be upbeat about

    1 Apr 2008

    Gary Styles, strategy, risk and economics director of Hometrack, identifies the big risks to economic stability in 2008 and comes up with a prognosis for the UK that is not an entirely gloomy one

  • Stock Picker

    31 Mar 2008

    Financial shares enjoyed healthy gains last week following a welcome injection of confidence into the US markets as a result of JP Morgan Chase's revised $10 a share offer for Bear Stearns.

  • Stockton takes reins of all HBOS broker business

    31 Mar 2008

    Nigel Stockton's remit as managing director of HBOS Intermediary Mortgages has been expanded to encompass all of HBOS' broker business, including its valuation company Colleys.

  • Swift staff face redundancy

    31 Mar 2008

    Swift is in consultation with 60 staff regarding possible job losses. The specialist lender says it hopes the final number of redundancies will be fewer and it is working to restrict it to just 25. Staff affected by the consultation are from Swift's sales, marketing and new business teams. The firm has a total headcount of almost 140 workers. John Webster, chief executive of Swift, says: "We will be offering around 20 alternative permanent positions in other areas of the business, which ...

  • TFC adds Beacon to its £99 app fee offering

    1 Apr 2008

    TFC Homeloans is now offering a £99 application fee on all deals placed with Beacon.

  • TFC offers £99 Beacon application fee

    1 Apr 2008

    TFC Homeloans is offering a £99 application fee on all deals placed with Beacon.

  • The chancellor loses grip on reality

    31 Mar 2008

    Kevin Paterson takes a weekly look at the latest developments in the market and brings you what's hot and what's not in the world of mortgages

  • The conveyancing revolution is coming

    31 Mar 2008

    Conveyancing has been a cottage industry for hundreds of years but it is undergoing a technological revolution.

  • The end of possessions is nigh

    1 Apr 2008

    Philip Tebbatt says that it's time to check out your arrears policy under MCOB 13 or risk falling foul of the Civil Justice Council pre-action protocol which is now at the consultation stage

  • The heat is on mortgage mis-selling

    31 Mar 2008

    It was an accident waiting to happen so it's no surprise that the Financial Ombudsman's Service has at last run up the danger flag with re-gard to mortgage mis-selling.

  • The month at a glance

    1 Apr 2008

    The reporting season proved inconclusive and the Budget was an irrelevance but the sell-off of Bear Stearns and the run on HBOS shares resulted in an agreement that could see the Bank of England give UK financial institutions the kind of support the Fed has been extending to battered US banks

  • The offset alternatives

    31 Mar 2008

    With consumers' money having to work harder in light of the liquidity crisis, brokers should consider how offset and current account mortgages could help, says Mark Skinsley

  • Tiuta to host broker bridging seminar

    31 Mar 2008

    Bridging lender Tiuta will be hosting a broker training seminar on April 9 to help brokers better understand bridging finance.

  • TMA launches five-star hotel broker draw

    1 Apr 2008

    The Mortgage Alliance and Loanmakers has announced an exclusive competition for its members to win a five-star hotel and theatre break in London.

  • TMO bosses deep in talks about its future

    31 Mar 2008

    Bosses at The Mortgage Operation were thrashing out options on Friday in a bid to rescue the business from administration.

  • To succeed, we must stop whingeing and start adapting

    31 Mar 2008

    With all the furore surrounding chancellor Alistair Darling's Budget, I've encountered many in the industry who are losing sight of best practice and how our business works.

  • To thrive, brokers must find the right partners

    31 Mar 2008

    If you have ever known a builder, plumber, carpenter or electrician, you'll know that their houses often have the most unfinished jobs.

  • Top packager says sector's end is nigh

    31 Mar 2008

    A leading packager has heralded the death of the packaging market.

  • Trustguard Manchester offers brokers free leads

    31 Mar 2008

    Trustguard Manchester is giving brokers a free lead for every completed case in a bid to boost its business.

  • UBS forms special unit to hold US sub-prime assets

    1 Apr 2008

    Swiss banking giant UBS has formed a special unit to hold its illiquid US real estate assets as it reports writedowns of $19bn from the US sub-prime crisis.

  • UBS new unit to hold illiquid US real estate assets

    1 Apr 2008

    Swiss banking giant UBS has formed a special unit to hold its illiquid US real estate assets as it reports writedowns of $19bn from the US sub-prime crisis.

  • UNIFi enhances secured loan portal

    1 Apr 2008

    UNIFi Partners has unveiled a range of enhancements to its secured loan portal.

  • UNIFi launches unsecured lending portal to field declines

    1 Apr 2008

    UNIFi Partners, the network for secured loan broker firms, is launching an unsecured lending portal which can be used to field declines that affinity partners such as building societies want to place.

  • Unsecured loans given without proof of income, says uSwitch.com

    4 Apr 2008

    More than two-thirds of the money lent in unsecured loans in the last year was granted without consumers being asked to prove their income, says uSwitch.com.

  • US reveals overhaul of financial regulation

    1 Apr 2008

    The US Treasury has unveiled its blueprint for the biggest overhaul of financial regulation since the 1929 stock market crash.

  • US sub-prime woes a result of 'getting rich on backs of poor'

    1 Apr 2008

    John Murray recently met Morris Reid, formerly an aide to US president Bill Clinton and these days a TV pundit with his own public affairs company in Washington DC. They talked about the US primaries and turning around the credit crisis. It wasn't a confidence-boosting session

  • Vision announces extra dates for workshop tour

    31 Mar 2008

    Vision Network has added 30 more dates to its workshop tour to help familiarise brokers with Vision Software, its point-of-sale technology.

  • Waking up to a post Rock world

    1 Apr 2008

    According to John Murray, last year's BSA annual conference was an insomniac's dream but this year the organisers have had a wake-up call and have put together an event in Manchester that will have value for all lenders - not just building societies

  • Wave revamps products and reduces max LTV

    1 Apr 2008

    Wave has revamped its product range, withdrawing all two-year fixes and its Almost Prime buy-to-let deals.

  • We need the FSA to stay onside

    1 Apr 2008

    Peter Williams, executive director of IMLA, questions whether criticisms of the FSA over its handling of recent events are warranted. But he maintains that it must remain part of the solution and not become part of the problem

  • We should have acted to avoid US cold

    31 Mar 2008

    An American friend of mine who lives in London recently complained that her nationality attracts a lot of criticism from Brits. She said the war in Iraq, climate change and the abuse of human rights are often blamed on her simply because of where she was born.

  • We're never too experienced to learn

    31 Mar 2008

    I've been inducted into a new network and the training I have received will hold me in good stead during the difficult times ahead for the mortgage industry, says Sue Read

  • What to look for in back office systems

    31 Mar 2008

    In recent years lenders have made massive strides with their online technology, including decision in principle, application submission and 24-hour case tracking tools. At the same time consumers are increasingly using the internet to shop and transact business.

  • Whole loan sale conference

    1 Apr 2008

    Lending Strategy will have exclusive access to Merrill Lynch's inaugural whole loan sale conference in London on Friday 16 May, and will report on it in our June issue.

  • Win some, lose some

    1 Apr 2008

    Every cloud, it seems, has a silver lining. In Britannia's case, the clouds built up in recent times when Neville Richardson, chief executive of the Britannia, had to oversee a senior management re-shuffle when Gerald Gregory, managing director of Britannia Capital Investments, was replac-ed by group finance director Phil Lee.

  • Woolwich withdraws offset and lifetime trackers

    31 Mar 2008

    Woolwich will withdraw a range of its trackers with effect from close of business today. These include its base plus 0.74% and base plus 0.99% offset trackers, which offer 60% and 80% LTVs respectively.It will also withdraw its base plus 0.74% and base plus 0.99% lifetime trackers, which also offer 60% and 80% LTVs respectively. All products have a £595 application fee and 1% early repayment charge for the first three years of the loan.

  • Zero-carbon towns are unrealistic, energy assessor claims

    4 Apr 2008

    A UK energy assessor is warning that zero-carbon towns are wholly unrealistic.

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