Mortgage Strategy
4 May 2009

  • £20m funding boost for North West SMEs

    5 May 2009

    A £20m short-term lending fund has been launched to help the North West’s small to medium enterprises, entrepreneurs and property professionals beat the credit crunch.

  • 14th consecutive house price fall in April

    8 May 2009

    For the 14th month in a row the average UK house price fell month-on-month by 1.1% in April, dipping from £200,000 in March to £197,000.

  • 60 Seconds with...Peter Williams

    5 May 2009

    How has the dynamic of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association changed?

  • A&L launches five-year fixed rate

    7 May 2009

    Alliance & Leicester is launching a five-year fixed product, homebuyer or remortgage, with a rate of 4.64%.

  • Advisers learn about TCF by playing computer game

    5 May 2009

    More than 2,000 financial advisers have been trained in the dark art of Treating Customers Fairly by playing a computer game.

  • Affordability at its best for six years, says Halifax

    5 May 2009

    Home affordability for potential first-time buyers has improved substantially since mid 2007, according to the latest Halifax FTB Affordability Review. The proportion of local authorities in the UK where housing is affordable for an FTB has more than trebled since 2007.

  • AIFA says Bank of England should manage financial stability

    6 May 2009

    Getting the Bank of England rather than the Financial Services Authority to supervise financial stability is the most "sure-fire" way to avoid another meltdown.

  • At last there's some good news in the industry

    5 May 2009

    I'm going to try harder than ever this week to think positive thoughts. I know this is somewhat out of character but here goes with all the latest mortgage industry good news I can find.

  • Base rate held at 0.5%

    7 May 2009

    The Monetary Policy Committee has held interest rates at 0.5% for the second month in a row.

  • Big respect to Wyles for his speech at the CML annual lunch

    5 May 2009

    I was gladdened to read the story on Mortgage Strategy Online headlined 'FSA should not instil fear, says CML' which detailed the speech by Matthew Wyles, chairman of The Council of Mortgage Lenders, at the trade body's annual lunch.

  • Brilliant Mortgages adds Halifax to panel

    5 May 2009

    Brilliant Mortgages, the mortgage club owned by Exclusive Connections, has added Halifax Intermediaries to its panel of lenders.

  • Broker confidence returning, says Paragon

    6 May 2009

    Signs of confidence returning to the mortgage broker market have emerged, with brokers stating they expect to do more mortgage business for the first time in over a year, Paragon Mortgages research shows.

  • Brokers crucial in a confused market

    5 May 2009

    In the wake of the Budget, two things emerged that made it appear there are many things conspiring to make the current trading conditions even more difficult and confusing.

  • Budget has spurred first-timers to buy

    5 May 2009

    Remarkably, there is one group of people who seem to have been motivated by the Budget - first-time buyers.

  • Budget sums just don't add up

    5 May 2009

    It certainly wasn't a Budget to bank on but it's one the country's top earners will want to get away from. And I'm not talking about footballers opting to play in North America either. That would be ridiculous. After all, who would want to play football in America, in an American League and with American supporters?

  • Buy-to-let deals drop 95% in two years

    6 May 2009

    Research from price comparison website moneysupermarket.com shows that in just two years, the number of buy-to-let mortgages available has fallen from 4,384 to just 213 - a reduction of 95%.

  • Clients missing out on drawdown

    5 May 2009

    Key Retirement Solutions says the majority of consumers looking for equity release deals are still failing to investigate drawdown products.

  • CML challenged on negative equity

    5 May 2009

    The number of home owners facing negative equity could be closer to three million than the 900,000 estimated by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

  • Complete Conveyancing joins AToM panel

    5 May 2009

    London & European has signed a deal with All Types of Mortgages for its web-based property transaction management service Complete Conveyancing to join the packager’s conveyancing panel

  • Concern over equity release advice

    5 May 2009

    Which? last week revealed that the early findings of a mystery shopping exercise on the quality of advice provided by equity release advisers are disappointing.

  • Consumer confidence on the rise

    6 May 2009

    The Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index rose by eight points to 50 in April, the largest single monthly rise for nearly two years.

  • Consumer demand will keep brokers going

    5 May 2009

    Grim news from the British Bankers' Association last week that gross mortgage lending is down almost 50% on last year and will continue to decline. But don't pack your bags and get your coat just yet.

  • Conti highlights potential tax rebate for holiday homes

    5 May 2009

    Many of the Britons who let out their second homes in Europe could now be eligible for a tax rebate windfall paid back to them by HM Revenue & Customs, claims Conti.

  • Contract leaves Network Data ARs guessing over pipeline commission

    5 May 2009

    Appointed representatives of Network Data Limited and Mortgage Broking Services Limited who decided to transfer to Lighthouse Group last week are still in the dark about what will happen to their pipeline commission.

  • Conveyancers in remortgage service alliance

    5 May 2009

    Countrywide has teamed up with a range of conveyancing specialists to launch a remortgage service for lenders called Secure Remortgage.

  • Costly UK funds mean Irish FTBs get better deals, claims Halifax

    5 May 2009

    Halifax has cited the high cost of funding in the UK as the reason it cannot offer first-time buyers in this country the 2.9% rate it offers in Ireland.

  • Coventry cuts rates on five-year fix

    8 May 2009

    The Coventry has reduced the rate on its five-year fixed rate deal by 0.2% to 4.49%.

  • Crown Mortgage Management receives backing of Forum Partners

    5 May 2009

    Forum Partners, a global real estate investment management firm has completed an investment in the Crown group of companies and Crown Mortgage Management, an independent provider of mortgage management services.

  • Don't allow Tesco to jump queue on financial products

    5 May 2009

    At the moment the chances of your life being disrupted by swine flu remain small.

  • Equity release sales jump 89% at Norwich Union

    7 May 2009

    Equity release sales at Norwich Union Life grew by 89% to £83m in Q1 2009, compared to Q1 2008.

  • European Financial Solutions buys Mortgage Intelligence

    6 May 2009

    European Financial Solutions, owner of Mortgage Next, has bought Mortgage Intelligence from Close Brothers.

  • Evaluate appoints national accounts director

    6 May 2009

    Evaluate Technologies has boosted its senior management team with the addition of Marc Matthews as national accounts director.

  • Exact says it can help societies get ratings up again

    5 May 2009

    Exact is out to prove Moody's wrong in its downgrading of building societies, offering to help them get their ratings up.

  • Forum Partners invests in Crown Mortgage Management

    5 May 2009

    Forum Partners, a global real estate investment management firm has completed an investment in the Crown group of companies and Crown Mortgage Management, an independent provider of mortgage management services.

  • Free legals simply means no legals

    5 May 2009

    There's nothing new about promotions for free legals as lenders have been offering these on remortgage deals for years.

  • FSA and Bank of England need to get closer

    7 May 2009

    A government report on the future of financial services in the UK has called for a closer relationship between the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority.

  • FSA bans London broker for application fraud

    5 May 2009

    The Financial Services Authority has banned Tower Hamlets-based mortgage adviser Zia Chowdhury for certifying client identities for fraudulent mortgage applications. He also operated his firm, Express Financial, without FSA approval.

  • FSA has allowed mortgage market to fall into anarchy

    5 May 2009

    I was impressed by the recent comments from Michael White of Email Mortgages (Mortgage Strategy Online) regarding the destruction of advised sales by lenders and the fact that it is pointless to pour billions into the housing market if it is just being ladled back into the market by lenders on direct deals.

  • FSA probing 350 brokers for suspicious activity

    5 May 2009

    The Financial Services Authority is investigating 350 suspicious mortgage brokers under its Information From Lenders project.

  • FSB to issue ASBOs to tackle the plague of late payment

    5 May 2009

    The Federation of Small Businesses is warning late paying companies that it will name and shame them with Anti Social Behaviour Orders.

  • FTB schemes are valuable business

    5 May 2009

    The government's focus on providing affordable homes is gaining greater awareness.

  • Hard to judge true value of property

    5 May 2009

    Equity release, like any lending, is based on the opinion of professional valuers, backed by comparable evidence of property sales completed in recent times.

  • Help clients gain leasehold control

    5 May 2009

    You may have heard terms such as leasehold enfranchisement and rights to acquire emanating from legal circles. But how can you help clients gain control over their leasehold properties and potentially increase their value?

  • HIPs need to be put out of their misery

    5 May 2009

    It won't come as too much of a surprise to regular readers of Mortgage Strategy to receive further confirmation that I'm anti-Home Information Packs.

  • House hunters scouring web again

    6 May 2009

    Rightmove says the number of house hunters using the internet to source a property has climbed back up to pre-recession levels.

  • Income cover and HIV protection from PruProtect

    5 May 2009

    PruProtect has launched two income protection products and extended its life cover to those living with HIV.

  • Joined-up thinking required

    5 May 2009

    I am the guest editor of this issue of Mortgage Strategy, having traded my chief executive officer's hat at London & European for the editor's crown.

  • KRS and HoC join hands for referral service

    5 May 2009

    Key Retirement Solutions and Home of Choice have launched an equity release referral proposition.

  • Lenders are coming out of hibernation

    5 May 2009

    Leaving aside an underwhelming Budget, it seems possible that a combination of previous government initiatives and marginally more benign conditions may be having a positive impact on lending levels. Recent Council of Mortgage Lenders figures could be used to support this position.

  • Lenders start to loosen lending criteria

    7 May 2009

    Figures from Moneyfacts show the total number of available mortgage deals has risen by 7% in the past month as lenders start to accept lower deposits.

  • Libs Dems call for details on FSA stress tests

    8 May 2009

    Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable has called on the Financial Services Authority to release more details on how UK banks are being stress tested.

  • Lighthouse terminates talks with Network Data

    5 May 2009

    The Lighthouse Group has confirmed that it has discontinued all discussions with the board of Network Data Holdings, leaving hundreds of ARs that were hoping to transfer across in limbo.

  • Lloyds Banking Group warns of increased bad corporate debt

    7 May 2009

    In an interim statement today the bank says it has continued to increase its estimated market share of net new mortgage lending in Q1, while it warned of a 50% increase in bad corporate debts.

  • London homes shortage drives speedier sales

    5 May 2009

    A shortage of properties in central London is driving quick sales and some price stabilisation, says Cluttons. It says many would-be sellers have put off marketing their homes, worried about lower than expected valuations.

  • Marketwatch 05/05/2009

    5 May 2009

    Swaps plummeted last week. We saw some of the biggest declines I can remember, reversing many of the increases we have seen in the past few weeks.

  • Media Spotlight: Dispatches, Channel 4

    5 May 2009

    These days, art forms from TV dramas to comics are getting to grips with the credit crunch. Barely a day goes by without a sound bite comparing this crisis with the Great Depression of the 1930s or illustrating the West’s love of mammon.

  • Mentoring on equity release

    5 May 2009

    An equity release specialist has set up a mentoring service to help directly authorised brokers enter the sector.

  • Mis-selling claims are best handled by experts

    5 May 2009

    I wholeheartedly agree with Natalie Martin's article in the April 27 issue on claims management firms and the situation regarding unenforceable loans and credit cards.

  • Moore Blatch warns of repossession crisis

    5 May 2009

    Repossessions expert, Moore Blatch is warning that the predictions for repossessions orders and distressed sales could be far worse than those in the 1990s.

  • Mortgage Next unveils car insurance service

    5 May 2009

    Mortgage Next is launching a car insurance service. Brokers can earn up to 12.5% in referral fees for every policy sold.

  • Mutuals see approvals leap to £1.5bn in March

    5 May 2009

    Mortgage approvals by building societies more than doubled in March, climbing to their highest level since November 2008.

  • My comments on Abbey were meant to be constructive

    5 May 2009

    I was delighted to see that Ricky Okey, managing director of Abbey for Intermediaries and Alliance & Leicester Intermediaries, had reacted to my article in the April 20 issue by putting finger to keyboard and emailing your letters pages (Mortgage Strategy April 27).

  • Network Data suspended from AIM

    5 May 2009

    Network Data has been temporarily suspended from the Alternative Investment Market, pending the clarification of the company's financial position.

  • Networks must keep up strict AR supervision

    5 May 2009

    You won't be surprised to hear that we are keeping a close eye on the financial condition of networks.

  • No mates

    5 May 2009

    As many readers are probably aware there is a petition on the Downing Street website calling on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to resign. After months of mistakes, more than 24,000 members of the public have added their names to the petition to try and shame Brown out of the job.

  • No sustained improvement in market, says Savills

    6 May 2009

    Savills says that there has been no evidence yet of any sustainable improvement in the housing market, despite an uplift in residential sales in March.

  • Oh boy

    5 May 2009

    Congratulations are in order for Clare Mortimer, senior press officer at Lloyds Banking Group, who gave birth to a bouncing baby boy at the beginning of April. Mole was pleased to hear Mortimer was thinking of her favourite journalists during the birth, which it seems was particularly painful.

  • Optimism is in the air

    5 May 2009

    I expected last month's gathering at The Council of Mortgage Lenders' annual lunch to be pretty morose. It certainly was last year and with the state of play now not much better, if not worse, I was expecting more doom and gloom.

  • Parental equity could help more first-timers

    5 May 2009

    The industry should consider developing products that allow first-time buyers to tap into the equity locked in their parents' homes.

  • Pig ignorant

    5 May 2009

    About four years ago the government and its associated experts were busy talking up an avian flu pandemic. Though in fairness to the Financial Services Authority and perhaps uniquely in the history of that august organisation, someone in the press office came up with a memorable and apposite quote to bring some sanity back into the situation.

  • PMS expands protection panel

    7 May 2009

    Following on from the launch of its preferred protection panel in July 2008 PMS are is now offering a wider panel offering.

  • PNG creditors to appoint liquidator

    8 May 2009

    Creditors of Premier Network Group have been contacted by an insolvency practitioner to appoint a liquidator for the network.

  • Pre-tax profits at Barclays up 15%

    8 May 2009

    Barclays has seen its quarterly pre-tax profits jump 15% from the same period last year from £1.1bn to £1.3bn.

  • Profits leap at Santander's UK banks

    5 May 2009

    Santander's UK banking arm has seen its pre-tax profits for Q1 jump by more than a quarter compared with the same period last year.

  • Ratings agencies' methodology flawed

    5 May 2009

    The furore over Moody's mass downgrade of building societies continues and the more I look into this the more I believe that the ratings agency has over-reacted. At the very least it has not gone deep enough into the asset quality of the societies' mortgage books.

  • RBS reports pre-tax loss of £44m

    8 May 2009

    Royal Bank of Scotland has posted a pre-tax loss of £44m for the first three months of the year, compared with a profit of £479m at the same time last year.

  • Record low LIBOR rates and cheaper mortgages

    6 May 2009

    3 month LIBOR continues to drift gently lower and for the first time ever dollar 3 month LIBOR fell below 1% today.

  • Reel life

    5 May 2009

    Things may be bad in the mortgage market but according to film producer Alex Cameron they could be a hell of a lot worse.

  • Repossession crisis could be worse than 1990s, expert warns

    5 May 2009

    Repossessions expert, Moore Blatch is warning that the predictions for repossessions orders and distressed sales could be far worse than in the 1990’s.

  • Sales forces linked under Scottish Widows brand

    5 May 2009

    Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical intermediary sales forces are to combine under the Scottish Widows brand, resulting in the loss of 305 jobs.

  • Seeing the future of mortgages

    5 May 2009

    Research published last week by the Building Societies Association looks at what mortgages in 2020 will be like and how lenders will have to respond to changing consumer demands.

  • Sesame calls on FSA to justify RDR costs

    8 May 2009

    Sesame has called on the Financial Services Authority to justify the costs and benefits of the Retail Distribution Review proposals.

  • Shadow MPC

    5 May 2009

    This month's decision: hold

  • Squeezing societies won't boost lending

    5 May 2009

    I loved the recent Council of Mortgage Lenders' lunch. Building societies were conspicuous by their absence apart from Nationwide, although it is bigger than all other societies combined, so in percentage terms the sector was well represented.

  • Taking stock

    5 May 2009

    Christopher Taylor: What are your plans for Lloyds Banking Group in your new position as sales director of mortgages?

  • The kindest cut

    5 May 2009

    Mole was tickled to find a new website to entertain him during lunch breaks.

  • TMA extends bridging panel with Affirmative

    5 May 2009

    The Mortgage Alliance is offering directly authorised brokers an additional £100 commission per completed case to mark the addition of Affirmative Finance to its bridging proposition.

  • Trigold profits plummeted by 80% last year

    5 May 2009

    Trigold saw its profits fall by more than three-quarters in 2008.

  • Trying hard to remain positive amid the gloom

    5 May 2009

    I always try to be positive when writing my column for Mortgage Strategy as it helps counteract the negativity we are being bombarded with at the moment.

  • Uncovered

    5 May 2009

    AXA UK found itself in hot water last week after an advert for its Swiftcover brand was banned for being misleading.

  • US banks told to raise $75bn after stress tests

    8 May 2009

    Ten US banks have been told by the regulator to raise a total of almost $75bn (£50bn) in capital after failing to meet stress test requirements.

  • We are living in benefit ignorance

    5 May 2009

    Stress, anxiety and depression are the biggest causes of long-term sickness, according to our research and with reports of rising redundancies and house prices continuing to drop, you can see why they're on the rise.

  • Welcome to the dawn

    8 May 2009

    Thanks to Prince for the title of this piece, but finally our new website is up and running, subject to the usual teething problems of course.

  • Woolwich cuts mortgage rates

    5 May 2009

    Woolwich, the lending arm of Barclays, is cutting the rates on more than half of its mortgage range by an average of 0.35%.

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