Mortgage Strategy
4 April 2005

  • A third of borrowers still paying too much for their mortgage

    7 Apr 2005

    Almost a third of UK borrowers are still paying 2% too much for their mortgage, says Charcol.

  • A view from the floor

    4 Apr 2005

    Ian Adam, chairman of Britannia, says his society's members overwhelmingly endorse the strategy of remaining independent and mutually owned

  • A&L launches new range of mortgages

    8 Apr 2005

    Alliance & Leicester has launched a new range of mortgages.

  • Abbey calls for more consideration on IHT

    5 Apr 2005

    The chancellor recently raised the threshold for Inheritance Tax by the rate of general price inflation, but Abbey says an opportunity may have been missed.

  • Abbey ponders online deadline

    4 Apr 2005

    Abbey says it is aiming for brokers to submit all business online - doing away with paper applications or at least not paying proc fees for them - by the middle of the year.Abbey head of intermediary marketing Jeff Scott says 90% of its business is already submitted online and believes if all applications were done this way service would improve.Scott says: "Ideally, I want to turn off paper by the middle of year or at least not pay for such applications. It's a waste of intermediaries' ...

  • Act to de-stress your company

    4 Apr 2005

    Paul Griffin, managing director of SmartMove, says decisive action and good communication are neccessary to relieve your company of the symptons of organisational stress.

  • Advantage Home Loans appointed to LIME panel

    5 Apr 2005

    Advantage Home Loans has been appointed to the panel of Lifetime Insurance Mortgage Experts as a provider for sub-prime and non-conforming mortgages.

  • Advantage launches generic mortgage application form

    7 Apr 2005

    Advantage Home Loans, the branded mortgage arranger, has launched an easy to use generic mortgage application form.

  • AIFA calls for review of FSA compensation funding

    8 Apr 2005

    In a hard hitting response to FSA consultation paper 05/2 regulatory fees and levies 2005/06 the Association of Independent Financial Advisers is calling for an urgent and fundamental review of the funding of compensation.

  • An open letter to John Tiner at the FSA

    4 Apr 2005

    Inconsistency in the application of the FSA rules not only makes for confusion in the market but could also mask a flaunting of the rules by some, says Richard Griffiths in his letter

  • Andy Young leaves Sesame to head TBMC

    5 Apr 2005

    The Business Mortgage Company has secured the services of Andy Young as managing director. Young has been involved in the mortgage market for over 15 years, previously the mortgage marketing director at Zurich and more recently with Sesame as mortgage product manager.

  • Andy Young to quit Sesame and head TBMC

    4 Apr 2005

    A replacement has not yet been found for Young who leaves at the end of May after three years. Young, who came to Sesame after a successful stint as director of Zurich IFA Mortgage Network, says he has decided to join TBMC to lead its expansion into residential mortgages and other new areas. Young says: "I am leaving Sesame to join a successful company that's already doing over 100m worth of business a month and has 50 staff in Cardiff. I will ...

  • Bank of England holds base rate at 4.75%

    7 Apr 2005

    The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has held the base rate at 4.75% for the eighth consecutive month.

  • Bank of Ireland Mortgages celebrates flexible criteria

    5 Apr 2005

    Bank of Ireland Mortgages has enhanced its lending criteria across a number of product areas.

  • Bear Stearns buys back into UK with E&CMC takeover

    4 Apr 2005

    US investment giant Bear Stearns has bought Essex & Capital Mortgage Corporation in a multimillion pound deal that will see the Southend-based sub-prime broker acquire its packager parent ICMG before the sale completes.The deal gives Bear Stearns a ready to roll origination platform as E&CMC will process loans and aggregate them for placement with lenders.Bear Stearns has been funding products through Rooftop since October 2003. ICMG, run by partners Ray Bohringer and George ...

  • Blair calls general election for May 5

    5 Apr 2005

    Tony Blair today fired the starting gun for a May 5 general election. The Prime Minister headed to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to formally dissolve Parliament.The announcement had been expected yesterday, but was delayed as a mark of respect to the Pope.All three party leaders were set to start campaigning across the country immediately.

  • BMS must be raising fees to get more sub-prime business

    4 Apr 2005

    From Kevin Thornton I have watched without interest the debate on proc fees and BM Solutions. Despite its claims that proc fees for adverse cases should be no more than those in the clean market, BMS is gradually increasing the fees it pays. Why? Has it managed to make products better for clients while at the same time rewarding brokers? Or it is doing this to make sure it is getting in enough sub-prime business? No replies required. Kevin Thornton MT Financial ...

  • Bonds of regulation must be loosened

    4 Apr 2005

    Any delay in streamlining the onerous regulatory process will severely damage the mortgage industry, further limiting consumers' choices and pushing up costs, says Mike Fitzgerald

  • Borrowers advised to heed loan protection trap

    5 Apr 2005

    Specialist broker Burgesses has launched a monthly loan protection policy that offers a comparable level of cover to the established lenders, but at a lower cost.

  • Bournemouth business woman scoots into top job

    8 Apr 2005

    Bournemouth business woman Louise Speake has been promoted to the role of assistant business development manager at Bournemouth-based Regency Mortgage Corporation.

  • Bristol & West Mortgages changes criteria

    7 Apr 2005

    Bristol & West Mortgages is changing the criteria across its range of mortgages, including standard, buy-to-let and self-certification on Monday.

  • Bristol & West Mortgages cleans up with new criteria changes

    8 Apr 2005

    Bristol & West Mortgages is launching new criteria for its range of mortgages, which includes standard, buy-to-let and self-certification on Monday April 11. Bristol & West says it has taken the challenge to make its mortgages more competitive, more flexible and will offer more options to a wider range of customers The key changes include, for the standard product, increased joint income multiples from 2.75 to 3.25, minimum income 20,000, with max loan amount at 95% LTV ...

  • Brokers couldn't believe their luck when they saw fee

    4 Apr 2005

    From Monty Burn In response to Alan Sargent's letter of the week (Mortgage Strategy March 28), I know the Bristol & West product with the 750 proc fee sold by the "shedload" because my contacts at Pink Home Loans and B&W told me at the time it was the best selling product "due to the high proc fee". This was also confirmed by a number of brokers I spoke to at the time. They could not believe their luck when they saw a product offering a 750 fee. Even Sargent admits it would ...

  • Brokers warm to customer fees

    4 Apr 2005

    Brokers are saying no to procuration fees and charging the client instead, says Portman.Paul Howard, associate director at Portman, says within the past two months several brokers have said they will not take the proc fee and instead increase the customer fee.He says: "We have had two big brokers come to us in the past two months saying - what if we don't take the proc fee and instead build it into the product charge?"He says that in the past, some brokers have been reluctant ...

  • Brokers willing to risk sourcing system KFIs

    5 Apr 2005

    The majority of brokers are willing to use Key Facts Illustrations from sourcing systems rather than using lender websites.

  • Carsberg publishes review of regulation

    5 Apr 2005

    A wide-ranging review of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors regulation has recommended greater separation of regulatory and representational functions.

  • Charity soccerfest set for May 19

    4 Apr 2005

    The international soccer showdown of the year approaches - May 19 sees the Shelter Invitational Tournament 2005 at Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace FC.And Mark Harris, Savills Private Finance managing director, is looking for keen players to sign up to his team of intermediaries to take on sides from BM Solutions, managed by Alan Cleary, Mortgage Express, managed by Tim Dawson, and charity Shelter.Harris has ousted last year's broker manager, James Rodea, following the ...

  • Chelsea defends 8m Bage payoff

    4 Apr 2005

    Richard Hornbrook, chief executive at Chelsea, has defended the society's decision to award its retired former boss an 8m pension fund.Chelsea was severely criticised in the national press for offering its former chief executive Michael Bage an 8m pension fund. The society was slammed as being stuck in the 1970s and not considering the financial interests of it members.However, Hornbrook says these claims were unjustified and an attack on the size of the pension fund is an attack ...

  • Chelsea trials different hours for different lifestyles

    8 Apr 2005

    In response to a busier UK lifestyle the Chelsea is carrying out an innovative trial of longer opening hours across four of its branches.

  • Chelsea trials longer branch opening hours

    5 Apr 2005

    In response to a busier UK lifestyle the Chelsea is carrying out an innovative trial of longer opening hours across four of its branches.

  • CHL dumps B2L accounts rule

    4 Apr 2005

    Capital Home Loans has done away with the need to show accounts when applying for buy-to-let mortgages to a ceiling of 2m.The no accounts rule applies to all buy-to-let products provided by CHL and its Irish Permanent brand.Together with new maximum loan sizes of 2m on LTVs of 75% (previously 500,000) and 1m on LTVs of 85% (previously 500,000), the move is designed to appeal to established landlords with growing portfolios.Mike Healy, head of sales at CHL and IP, says: "These ...

  • Clifford's climb

    4 Apr 2005

    Rob Clifford says his entrepreneurial drive will not be stifled by West Bromwich's takeover of mortgageforce, the firm he created. He gives his first in-depth interview to Barney McCarthy

  • CML appoints senior policy adviser

    7 Apr 2005

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has appointed Rob Thomas as a senior policy adviser, covering mortgage funding issues.

  • Commercially sensitivecommercially sensitive

    4 Apr 2005

    The commercial mortgage market has great potential for brokers but can be complicated so novices should tread carefully, says Stephanie Spicer

  • Companies to be cautious on IT spends in 2005

    6 Apr 2005

    Financial services companies will be cautiousabout spending money on IT in 2005 and should prepare for a rough year, says Forrester Research.

  • Complaints system to change

    4 Apr 2005

    The proposed rule changes are set out in a consultation paper that defines wider implications as "those cases in which there is a widespread issue or issues that could give rise to significant consumer detriment".Clive Briault, managing director of retail markets at the FSA, says: "The new arrangements will clarify the roles and responsibilities of the FSA and the ombudsman service when wider implication issues arise, and improve the identification and handling process for such ...

  • Confidence returning to housing market

    4 Apr 2005

    The latest Woolwich index shows that consumer confidence increased in March.

  • Cooling housing market leads to rising rental yields

    4 Apr 2005

    Quarterly rental yield figures released by Landlord Mortgages show that a cooling housing market has lead to rising rental yields across England and Scotland in the three months to March 2005.

  • Co-operative Bank reveals pre-tax profit of 132m

    7 Apr 2005

    The Co-operative Bank and Insurance Society has released its annual results which show a pre-tax profit of 132m, 1.9m higher than 2003.

  • Coventry and Universal join m2-mortgage club

    6 Apr 2005

    m2-mortgage club has revealed that Coventry and Universal have joined its lender panel.

  • Curriculum Vitae - Mark Harris

    4 Apr 2005

    "I follow Crystal Palace and have often been likened to Nick Faldo"

  • Dear Delia

    4 Apr 2005

    Dear Delia Mr Walters is a self-employed plumber who wants to buy a rental property for 200,000. He has 50,000 as a deposit.

  • Debt consolidation the number one reason for taking out a loan

    8 Apr 2005

    Today sees the launch of the PolarLoans Money Monitor which gives a monthly insight into consumer activity in the loan marketplace.

  • Derbyshire welcomes base rate decision

    7 Apr 2005

    The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committees decision to leave rates on hold is welcome news, says Derbyshire.

  • Easter boom shows who's hot and who's not, says GMAC

    4 Apr 2005

    Compared with the same period in 2004, it saw record figures on March 29, 2005. Just under half of GMAC-RFC's lending is sub-prime and this went up by almost 42%. The rest of the company's lending is divided between self-cert, mainstream and buy-to-let. Self-cert increased by around 24% and mainstream lending by 152.5%. However, one area that remains unchanged is buy-to-let.Jeff Knight, head of marketing services at GMAC-RFC says: "The buy-to-let business we are getting in is consistent ...

  • Election expected to have marked effect on housing market

    6 Apr 2005

    Propertyfinder.com has analysed the housing market over each of the last five general elections and found that the political cycle has a marked effect. Voters repeatedly complain that all the political parties are the same and that elections never make any difference. However, the housing market certainly does not behave as if elections are an irrelevance.

  • Equity schemes not used enough

    4 Apr 2005

    Prudential says many pensioners are not making use of equity release, with 86% of of over-65s polled considering moving home to free up cash.The equity release and pension provider says that while over half of over-55s move to the countryside or even to a different country for a change of lifestyle, the picture is less rosy for the over-65s.One-third of over-55s admit to moving home because of financial problems but this figure rockets when it comes to the over-65s.Ali Crossley, ...

  • Financial Health Matters

    4 Apr 2005

    Credit reports are part of the daily fabric of our working lives as they are a key information source used in lenders' decision-making.

  • First sign of an FTB upturn

    4 Apr 2005

    Jim Gillespie, operations director at Property Supermarket, says that within a week of Gordon Brown raising the Stamp Duty threshold from 60,000 to 120,000 there were signs the move had boosted the market.Gillespie says: "We have already seen business pick up. We had a couple of semi-detached houses on the market that incurred Stamp Duty before the decision. They had been on our books for some time but since the Stamp Duty change we have started to see some interest in them."Early ...

  • FMO announce IFA compliance support costs

    8 Apr 2005

    First Mortgage Options has released its compliance costs for directly authorised IFAs, primarily aimed at Bankhall/ISL members and other disillusioned members of large IFA or Mortgage networks.

  • FMO commercial mortgage lender panel expands to over 20 Lenders

    8 Apr 2005

    First Mortgage Options has added Affirmative Finance Limited to its commercial mortgage lending panel, bringing the total number of lenders to 21, covering prime, sub-prime, self certified first and second charge commercial loans and mortgages and commercial property bridging facilities.

  • FMO launch exclusive conveyance service

    8 Apr 2005

    First Mortgage Options has launched its in-house residential and commercial mortgage conveyance service called FMO Conveyance Solutions

  • FMO launch one stop mortgage intermediary and IFA web-site

    8 Apr 2005

    First Mortgage Options has launched its new intermediary web-site www.firstmortgageoptions.com which contains information on all the products and services available from FMO and over 60 strategic partners.

  • Franchise outfit to be set up

    4 Apr 2005

    Singh will head the new company, which will operate as a separate entity to Smart. He will relinquish control of Smart to business partner Jay Mehta.Chess will provide full administration and compliance support as well as assistance in locating premises for brokers to work out of.Free sourcing software, training and competence schemes, sales development and local and national advertising support will also be available.Singh says: "Chess differs from a traditional franchise ...

  • FSA fees update

    8 Apr 2005

    The Financial Services Authority will shortly finalise its fees for 2005/06 and will issue combined invoices, covering FSA fees and Financial Services Compensation Scheme and Financial Ombudsman Service levies, from June onwards.

  • FSA has confidence in insurance industry

    7 Apr 2005

    The Financial Services Authority believes the insurance industry is capable of managing conflicts of interest.

  • FSA is boosting brokers' image and professionalism

    4 Apr 2005

    From Brian Melling I'm amazed at the claims made by some advisers about how much longer the sales process is taking under the FSA. Often an extra two hours is mentioned. What takes this extra time? I know we need to explain the status of the company and that we are regulated by issuing an IDD, then complete a detailed fact-find, source a suitable mortgage, explain the mortgage details to the client, complete the application, collect the client documents, submit the application ...

  • FSSC appoints standards manager

    6 Apr 2005

    The Financial Services Skills Council has appointed Carol Eddleston as standards manager.

  • GMAC-RFC unveils sale of residential UK mortgage assets

    5 Apr 2005

    GMAC-RFC has unveiled its first sale of residential UK mortgage assets worth 125m, into a new funding vehicle, complementing its existing whole loan sale and securitisation programmes.Within the structure the equitable interest in the mortgage loans was purchased through the issuance of credit linked notes, which have been bought by Deutsche Genossenschafts-Hypothekenbank AG.DG HYP also acted as sole arranger for the deal. GMAC-RFC has retained legal title to the loans ...

  • Guard yourself when advising on B2L

    4 Apr 2005

    Intermediaries must be sure of where they stand with regard to regulatory requirements when advising customers wishing to take out buy-to-let mortgages, says Neal Smith

  • Halifax General Insurance launches sales solution

    4 Apr 2005

    Halifax General Insurance has introduced an online sales solution for authorised mortgage intermediaries across the UK.

  • Halifax Home Insurance increases online discount

    6 Apr 2005

    Halifax Home Insurance has increased its online discount from 10% to 25% for all home insurance policies that are purchased through its website.

  • Halifax house price index shows 0.5% increase

    5 Apr 2005

    Halifax's latest monthly index shows that house prices increased by 0.5% in March.

  • Householders putting their posessions at risk, says AA

    6 Apr 2005

    Half of Britain's householders are putting their homes and savings at risk because they don't have insurance or their cover won't meet the full value of their contents.

  • Housing benefit scheme shows early signs of success

    5 Apr 2005

    A radical way of paying Housing Benefit in nine test areas has been introduced smoothly according to a report published today.

  • IFA offers free guide in to market uncertainty

    7 Apr 2005

    The IFA is offering a promotion guide entitled Guarding Against Housing Market Uncertainty.

  • IFS defends 40 admin charge

    4 Apr 2005

    The Institute of Financial Services has defended its 40 charge to issue updated CeMAP certificates.Lisa Green, a director of Link Mortgage Services in Sittingbourne, Kent, applied for an updated qualification certificate after getting married at the end of 2004 and was told there would be an administration charge of 40.Green says: "The charge seemed unfair at a time when other costs for exams, licensing and regulation has to be met."When we complained on the grounds of equal ...

  • Inflationary pressures on a downward spiral

    5 Apr 2005

    Inflationary pressures are on a downward spiral as oil prices reach their peak.

  • Integration a must as market shrinks

    4 Apr 2005

    Despite their huge IT investments, in a shrinking market lenders must realise that cutting the cost of the mortgage process through integration is in everyone's interest, says Frank Eve

  • Internet Insite

    4 Apr 2005

    Mortgage Strategy's weekly guide to what's hot and what's not on the web. Jeff Sutherland-Kay checks out the websites of brokers, product providers, clubs, networks and packagers

  • Kearney appointed president of GMAC CMBE

    7 Apr 2005

    Peter Kearney has been named president of GMACCommercial Mortgage Bank Europe.

  • Kensington Mortgages launches TCF guide

    5 Apr 2005

    Kensington Mortgages has launched a guide to Treating Customer Fairly, designed to help intermediaries interpret the FSA initiative.

  • Leeds axes Holbeck name in rebrand

    4 Apr 2005

    Leeds & Holbeck last week revealed members have given their backing to a company-wide rebrand and that redemption fees will be increased by just under 100.Early redemption administration charges have increased from 110 to 195 and the despatch of title deeds fee will go up from 55 to 65. On the society's Key Facts Illustration the two fees are added and charged on redemption of the loan so the fee on the KFI of 165 will be increasing by 95 to 260.Peter Hill, director of operations, ...

  • Lending Solutions appoints Peter Hales as chairman

    8 Apr 2005

    Lending Solutions, the private equity backed vehicle used to acquire the Your Move estate agency chain and the e.surv surveying business from Norwich Union, has announced the appointment of Peter Hales, formerly chairman of Countrywide Surveyors, as chairman of the Lending Solutions Group.

  • Lloyds TSB says base rate decision no surprise

    7 Apr 2005

    Trevor Williams, chief economist at Lloyds TSB Financial Markets say the Bank of Englands Monetary Policy Committee's decision to keep interest rates on hold at 4.75% comes as no surprise.

  • Market Watch

    4 Apr 2005

    It was a pretty quiet time for swaps last week and they closed marginally down.

  • Marlborough service to save lenders money

    4 Apr 2005

    Marlborough Stirling has set up a mortgage consultancy service to gauge the efficiency of lenders' operations and generate potential cost savings of over 300,000 per year.The aim of the service is to provide lenders with an objective review of their mortgage application and processing operations.The company claims it can cut operation times by 35 minutes from one hour 55 minutes to just one hour 20 minutes. It calculates this would equate to savings of 312,480 per year for lenders.Phil ...

  • moneysupermarket.com simplifies mortgage search

    5 Apr 2005

    moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, is encouraging consumers to compare the market by using their offset mortgage comparison tool.

  • Mortgage lending to decrease by 10% over three years

    6 Apr 2005

    Research by Datamonitor reveals that mortgage lending in the UK will decline 10% over the next three years as housing market growth stalls.

  • Mortgage Promotions adds BANKINTER to panel

    4 Apr 2005

    Mortgage Promotions has added BANKINTER Spain to its direct access lender panel.

  • Mortgage Promotions adds BuildStore to panel

    6 Apr 2005

    Mortgage Promotions has added BuildStore to its direct access lender panel.

  • Mortgage Times to expand offices

    6 Apr 2005

    The Mortgage Times Group has revealed plans for expansion in its Central London office due to record volumes of business during the past few months.

  • Most consumers believe interest rates have not peaked

    5 Apr 2005

    The latest consumer barometer from Lloyds TSB shows that most consumers believe interest rate have not yet peaked.

  • MPPI mis-selling warning

    4 Apr 2005

    The general insurance network says it understands from a source close to the Financial Services Authority that the regulator has concerns about companies selling MPPI insurance to customers who may not be able to make a claim under the terms of the policy.David Quick, managing director at CETA, says: "In many instances, mis-selling is fuelled by unrealistic sales targets, but in some cases brokers have been unwittingly selling inappropriate policies to clients who do not need the ...

  • Nicks Notes

    4 Apr 2005

    Cancer Research UK has predicted cases of malignant melanoma could surge in the next 300 years.

  • NU to enter home reversion market via intermediaries

    4 Apr 2005

    On Wednesday it launches the NU Home Reversion Plan, funded by Grainger Trust plc, to be sold through IFAs and mortgage intermediaries. The plan is designed to complement its lifetime mortgage.NU says the plan has two innovative features - an inheritance protection guarantee and a house price inflation guarantee. The IPG is to protect the value of the customer's estate should the plan end because of death in its first four years, or if they require long-term care in that time. The ...

  • On the beat

    4 Apr 2005

    So much has been written about the online revolution it's difficult to add anything new.

  • 'Over-burdensome' FSA slammed in Tory report

    4 Apr 2005

    The paper, entitled Reform of regulation covering the UK financial services industry - competition and competitiveness: A new agenda, written by shadow treasury minister Richard Spring includes a revised competition remit for the FSA.It also proposes an independent board of directors for the FSA and a shift toward principle-based regulation instead of a prescriptive approach.Shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin says: "The City is a global financial powerhouse. We need to ensure ...

  • Paymentshield launches mortgage club

    7 Apr 2005

    Paymentshield is expanding its range of services by launching a new mortgage service.

  • Pink extends fees assisted remortgage campaign

    5 Apr 2005

    Pink Home Loans has extended its fees assisted remortgage campaign for an extra month to enable more intermediaries to take advantage of it.

  • Pink launches sub-prime deals with First National

    7 Apr 2005

    Pink Home Loans is currently promoting two sub-prime products as part of its branded product range with First National.

  • Pink promotes Freedom products

    4 Apr 2005

  • PMPA launches proc fees protection plan

    4 Apr 2005

    The Professional Mortgage Packagers Alliance is to launch the PMPA Intermediary Payment Protection plan.The plan is designed to provide a guarantee, verifiable by PMPA, that in the event of a member ceasing to trade it will settle outstanding proc fees due to FSA-registered brokers on completed packaged cases.The plan will cover regulated and buy-to-let mortgage products and is expected to be operational across the PMPA membership by July 1.Jon O'Brien, operations director ...

  • Portman encourages members to give to charity

    8 Apr 2005

    Portman is encouraging its members to help raise money for charity by using their AGM vote. For every vote cast this year, Portman will donate 10p to charity via the AGM voting initiative, which has been in place since 2002. If every eligible member were to use their vote this year, over 100,000 would be donated to worthy causes across the Society's operating region, proving that every vote really could make a difference.

  • Principality welcomes base rate announcement

    7 Apr 2005

    Peter Griffiths, chief executive of Principality has welcomed todays decision to hold interest rates at 4.75%.

  • Process your way to a profitable business

    4 Apr 2005

    In an attempt to offer readers of this column financially rewarding ideas I have researched a number of methods including tips on how to get your foot in the door.

  • PTI should pay the 700 proc fees it owes me - if it can

    4 Apr 2005

    From Terry Phillips Last year I was an appointed representative of Personal Touch Insurance and despite completing over 40 mortgages was told that if I wished to continue with PTI after this October I would have to join another broker as I was not writing enough business. I was put in touch with a firm which said I would have to use its trading name and pay it 25% of my commission. I decided to letter of the weeK

  • Red tape must not tie brokers in knots

    4 Apr 2005

    With regulatory reporting and the Treating Customers Fairly initiative both in the news, the FSA must not forget excessive red tape is counterproductive for business, says Ben Stafford

  • Reed to leave UCB and take Nationwide role

    4 Apr 2005

    After six years as managing director of UCB Home Loans, Charles Reed is to leave to move into mainstream lending at parent Nationwide in Swindon.Reed will take up the post of divisional director for customer service and communications while Keith Astill, currently head of corporate personnel at Nationwide, will take over Reed's role from April 5.Astill has spent most of his working life in the financial services sector, the majority of the time with Nationwide. Having held various ...

  • Searchflow welcomes electronic Stamp Duty payments

    6 Apr 2005

    Searchflow, the online conveyancing search provider, has welcomed the introduction of electronic Stamp Duty payments.

  • Skipton reports strong support at AGM

    6 Apr 2005

    Skipton has reported strong support at its Annual General Meeting on April 5 with 18.6% of members voting.

  • Skipton warns of rate increase in May

    7 Apr 2005

    Skipton has responded to the Bank of England's decision to freeze the base rate by saying there is a chance of a rise in May.

  • SmartNewHomes.com heralds base rate decision

    7 Apr 2005

    SmartNewHomes.com says the Bank of England is playing it safe with its decision to hold the base rate at 4.75%.

  • Sovereign Reversions makes Capital offer

    5 Apr 2005

    The board of Sovereign Reversions has made an offer for the shares of Capital Reversions that it does not already own.

  • Straw Poll Results

    4 Apr 2005

    Q: Do you think proc fees should be standardised across the industry?...

  • Sub-prime clients prefer to use mortgage brokers

    4 Apr 2005

    Chelsea says it hopes to jump to the forefront of the market with its latest sub-prime deals, to be launched on April 12.Full details of the range have not yet been released but Chelsea says it has been designed to fill the gap between its impaired adverse credit mortgages and its core credit range.Features of the range include increased discounts and fixed rates on some products. CCJs to any amount will be considered.Tom Gurrie, intermediary sales controller at Chelsea, ...

  • Tenet appoints Carby

    4 Apr 2005

    The Tenet Group has appointed Keith Carby asexecutive chairman of Capital Planning UK.

  • The cost of paying for access to cash

    4 Apr 2005

    The increase in the number of ATMs that charge customers for withdrawing money could result in some communities missing out on free access to cash, says Rachel Blackmore

  • The Mortgage Mole

    4 Apr 2005

    Digging the dirt in the mortgage world

  • The Mortgage Works launches buy-to-let product

    4 Apr 2005

    Specialist mortgage lender The Mortgage Works has launched a three-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgage at 4.99%.

  • Thousands fall into MS' April Fool's Day trap

    4 Apr 2005

    It was red faces all round last Friday morning after thousands fell for Mortgage Strategy's April Fool's Day hoax that BM Solutions had launched a sub-prime product paying a 2% proc fee.Our story, which was emailed to over 29,000 registered users last Friday, said the deal would be available through Savills Private Finance and heralded a massive climbdown by the lender.Both BMS and Savills Private Finance were in on the joke.Michael Bolton, managing director of BM ...

  • Unlock global investment potential at the Invest in Property Show

    8 Apr 2005

    The second Invest in Property Show, will return to Earls Court, bringing together a combination of UK and overseas developers, financial advisors, legal companies, buy-to-let advisers and property management companies.

  • West Brom will offer deal direct

    4 Apr 2005

    West Bromwich will offer Norwich Union's home reversion and lifetime mortgage products as part of its tied arrangement with the firm, but says it is against offering equity release products via brokers.West Brom was one of the firms stung for mis-selling equity release in the late 1980s - a product that was sold through intermediariesAndrew Messenger, chief executive of West Bromwich, says: "Most were sold through intermediaries. One or two brokers were found to have mis-sold and ...

  • Why is nobody making a fuss about IFA Promotions ads?

    4 Apr 2005

    From Michael Norwood I draw the attention of readers to the use of IFA Promotions' advertising aimed at consumers by many providers in the mortgage and GI markets. Since regulation it is strange this type of promotion has not raised more eyebrows. I have found the IFA Promotions web link on mortgage intermediary sites. The thing is, to qualify to use the facility you must be directly authorised and authorised to do investment business. It's odd that many DA brokers care to see ...

  • Will 8m payoff put you off using Chelsea?

    4 Apr 2005

    Members attending were told the society's performance for 2004 had seen gross mortgage lending of 2.3bn and that levels of efficiency, as measured by the costs to mean assets ratio, had improved for the 12th successive year to 0.64%.

  • Will packagers remain a strong force in distribution despite lenders' efforts to push them out?

    4 Apr 2005

    Packagers have much to offer the market but a contrary impression is being cultivated by those with vested interests, say our experts

  • Win tickets to London's House and Garden Fair

    4 Apr 2005

    Clarion Events, organiser of Mortgage Business Expo Manchester, is giving Mortgage Strategy readers the chance to win one of 50 pairs of tickets to The Daily Telegraph House and Garden Fair.Tickets will be given to the first 50 mortgage intermediaries who register to attend the Mortgage Business Expo by emailing natalie.martin@ centaur.co.uk.The fair, which takes place at London's Olympia from June 30 to July 3, is the country's most prestigious design event for ...

  • Yanks might stick around this time

    4 Apr 2005

    With the news this week that Bear Stearns is back in the UK mortgage market, you could be forgiven for thinking specialist lending in this country has gone full circle.A little over 10 years ago the Yanks were already starting to become embedded in the market over here, a rich source of profit margin on sub-prime business on which they had already started to capitalise in the US.Ever since World War II when George Cohan wrote the famous lyrics to Over There, the Yanks ...

  • Yanks might stick around this time

    4 Apr 2005

    With the news this week that Bear Stearns is back in the UK mortgage market, you could be forgiven for thinking specialist lending in this country has gone full circle.

Poll

Do you recommend fast-track to customers?

Current Issue

Lending Zone
petitions
debate
Define Advice
Advanced search