Mortgage Strategy
31 October 2011
-
Abbey adds completion to case tracking system
31 October 2011
Brokers will now be updated by Abbey for Intermediaries when their mortgage case completes.
-
Barclays is back in 90% arena with no-fee deals
31 October 2011
Barclays has re-entered the 90% LTV mortgage market with a range of fee-free deals through its mortgage arm Woolwich.The lender previously offered a maximum LTV of 85% after exiting the 90% market in October 2008.
-
Drop in approvals heralds bleaker time for lending
31 October 2011
A 6% fall in mortgage approvals in September is a sign that the modest recovery in lending over the past six months has come to an end, says Capital Economics.
-
Lloyds' £2.1bn transaction to be backed by prime mortgages
31 October 2011
Lloyds Banking Group is to launch a £2.1bn securitisation backed by prime residential mortgages.
-
We must do more to cut fraud
31 October 2011
Most lenders’ internal control systems are still not equal to the task of effectively preventing mortgage fraud, and conveyancers in particular should be the focus of greater scrutiny
-
60 seconds with...Stephen Lowe
31 October 2011
STEPHEN LOWE, GROUP DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, JUST RETIREMENT
-
Buyers fall for tax avoidance scams
31 October 2011
A growing number of people are being duped by online schemes that offer ways to avoid paying Stamp Duty, a law firm has warned.
-
Cable's mansion tax fails to scare industry
31 October 2011
The prospect of a tax being introduced on homes worth more than £2m is not being regarded as a threat to the housing market, with few predicting widespread destabilisation of prices or transactions, says Edmund Tirbutt
-
Caption Competition
31 October 2011
Safe&Secure’s Jason Berry (far left) and Chris Griffin (far right), with Capital FM’s JohnnyVaughan and Lisa Snowdon
-
Caption Competition: Last Week's Winner
31 October 2011
“Housing minister Grant Shapps takes drastic action after agreeing to a 30-year fixed rate.”
-
Court upholds Paragon's action on £6.9m B2L debt
31 October 2011
Paragon Mortgages’ decision to call in £6.9m worth of buy-to-let loans from an investor couple who fell into arrears has been vindicated in a recent High Court ruling.
-
Dates for your diary
31 October 2011
-
FSA expected to spill the beans on MMR at Expo
31 October 2011
The Financial Services Authority is to outline its thinking on the Mortgage Market Review at the Mortgage Business Expo in a few weeks’ time.
-
FTBs will be helped indirectly by partnership deal, says Castle Trust
31 October 2011
Castle Trust’s partnership mortgages could encourage banks to do more high LTV lending, according to industry experts.
-
It's time to deliver a gift to your clients
31 Oct 2011
Most mortgage brokers’ client banks are under-protected. I think you must all have heard about the enormous protection gap we have in this country, as far too many people feel that the state will look after them if something were to happen.
-
Kent Reliance launches only 85% LTV buy-to-let deal on the market
31 October 2011
Kent Reliance has launched an 85% LTV buy-to-let product the only deal of its kind on the market.
-
Leader: Keep up good work, lenders
31 October 2011
Against the backdrop of panic in Europe and the widening spread between LIBOR and the base rate, there was a fair bit of positive news from the UK mortgage market last week.
-
Lenders struggling with dual pressure
31 Oct 2011
Amid the unrelenting gloom surrounding us at the moment, the hand-wringing over regulation and the crisis on the Continent, the positive contribution that lenders make to the economy and society seems to have been overlooked.
-
Love will keep us together
31 October 2011
Banks have realised that to restore their balance sheets, they must get customers to love them again, but the challenge they face is proving to a sceptical public that their promises of better products and service are more than just a marketing gimmick
-
Managing interest-only clients
31 October 2011
There are several courses of action that can be taken before interest-only mortgages expire, from family guarantors to assisted sale, to minimise the financial risk to home owners and lenders
-
Marketwatch
31 October 2011
MP George Mudie just perpetuated the myth that high LTVs are not available to first-time buyers in his statement to the Commons. And it’s not regulation that has created the problem for FTBs, as he claims
-
Misleading rates will only damage lenders
31 October 2011
The residential market would obviously benefit if new lenders were to launch. Lending across the board is low and a boost in available funding would give the market a shot in the arm.
-
Nationwide wins double accolade
31 October 2011
Nationwide scooped two awards at the annual Personal Touch Financial Services gala dinner on October 20.
-
Near-prime and self-employed deals to boost business in specialist sector
31 October 2011
The specialist mortgage market has welcomed the launch of two niche product ranges as a much-needed boost for the sector.
-
Relief is in sight for Irish home owners
31 October 2011
Irish householders struggling with unsustainable mortgages are to be given a chance to remain in their homes, but as tenants rather than owners. And for other home owners under pressure, lenders will be prevented from adding to their misery with frequent increases in variable rates.
-
Reporting of complaints can often be misleading
31 October 2011
I was interested to read in Mortgage Strategy’s lead story last week that there were 2,796 complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service relating to mortgages between July and September.
-
Rich would barely notice mansion tax
31 October 2011
In this month’s Lending Zone Edmund Tirbutt looks at what could potentially happen to house prices if Liberal Democrat business minister Vince Cable’s 1% mansion tax on properties worth more than £2m became a reality.
-
Rival poaches Colleys' surveying boss
31 October 2011
Paul Chapman, interim head of surveying and valuation at Colleys, is joining Countrywide in the newlycreated board position of head of field operations within its surveying division.
-
Scottish price index gives the full picture
31 October 2011
We recently saw the launch of a dedicated house price index for Scotland.
-
Second-time buyers feeling the squeeze
31 October 2011
There are a number of endangered species in the housing market but while much political attention is focussed on first-time buyers, spare a thought for the equally vulnerable second-time buyer.
-
Senior executives make sudden exit from HML
31 October 2011
Two of HML’s senior bosses departed the firm last week.
-
Shifting strategies of Bank of America
31 October 2011
Four years ago there was a struggling mortgage firm called Countrywide Financial Corporation that for decades had been the poster child for everything right in US residential lending. Ailing from what looked like a temporary correction in the housing market, it needed money because of concerns about its liquidity.
-
Short-term finance bridges gap in B2L
31 October 2011
Mortgage brokers have seen business pick up in recent months, which has been predominantly driven by the increase in buy-to-let activity.
-
Silence is deafening from brokers' allies
31 Oct 2011
I am sure readers must have seen HSBC’s statement recently about how 81% of the best mortgage deals have been done direct over the last year, but what the statement lacked was any balance so it was more akin to an advertisement.
-
Spanish touch
31 Oct 2011
Miguel Sard, the first Spanish managing director of Abbey for Intermediaries, is determined to keep the lender at the top of the leader board for products and service, and has a few ideas up his sleeve on how to do just that
-
Strict rules are hitting bank lending
31 October 2011
The chairman of the Treasury Select Committee has written to the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority to raise concerns about the negative impact the squeeze on banks’ liquidity is having on their ability to lend.
-
The Fear Index
31 October 2011
The roots of the global economic crash will no doubt be rich fodder for writers for decades to come.
-
The Mortgage Mole
31 October 2011
DIGGING THE DIRT IN THE MORTGAGE WORLD…
-
Top of the League - October
31 October 2011
This month’s Player of the Month is Richard Alton, mortgage consultant at Alton Mortgages
-
Twist at the end of society soap
31 October 2011
The drama involving building society chief executives and a US venture capitalist has ended with a neat volte-face. Andy Golding, who publicly castigated Mike Lazenby for selling out to JC Flowers, will now be chief executive of OneSavings bank, the outcome of their union
-
Work from home to avoid winter woes
31 October 2011
Over the last few weeks I’ve been reading how the end of October was going to be bitterly cold.
