Mortgage Strategy
9 January 2012
-
60 seconds with...
9 January 2012
Lee Gladwell, director of sales and proposition, Platform
-
A broker's wish list for the coming year
9 January 2012
By and large, 2011 was a pretty good year for the industry. Lending volumes stabilised after the carnage of the previous few years, dual pricing was pretty much behind us and most of the best deals were once again available via the broker market.
-
Caption Competition
9 January 2012
Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor celebrates as Virgin Money signs a two-year dealtosponsor the football club.
-
Caption Competition: Last Week's Winner
9 January 2012
“The wife said if I came back from the pub late again I’d be wearing my dinner”David Devine
-
Coventry offers ERC-free letting deals
9 January 2012
Coventry Intermediaries has launched a new range of mortgage products, including some five-year buy-to-let deals with no early repayment charges.
-
Dates for your diary...
9 January 2012
January 12MPC meetingThe Monetary Policy Committee votes on the base rate and the size of the quantitative easing programme for the first time this year.
-
Empty homes scandal is not what it seems
9 January 2012
With the announcement of the government’s housing strategy last November, the world of new homes enjoyed plenty of publicity. Now, it appears, the light is shining on the problem of empty dwellings and what to do about them.
-
Equity release may reduce divorce pain
9 January 2012
-
Finance chiefs brace for recession
9 January 2012
Most chief financial officers at the UK’s biggest businesses are working on the assumption that Britain will fall back into recession this year, according to a poll conducted by Deloitte.
-
Focus on details for referrals and repeats
9 January 2012
The new year is always a good time to read what the financial ’experts’ are forecasting.
-
Former CML chief joins Deloitte
9 January 2012
Deloitte has appointed former Council of Mortgage Lenders director-general Michael Coogan as strategic adviser to its financial services practice.
-
FOS set to allow more free cases
9 January 2012
The Financial Ombudsman Service has revealed it is looking to increase from three to 25 the number of free cases firms are allowed before having to pay a case fee. The FOS is preparing to deal with a deluge of payment protection insurance claims over the next few years.
-
IMLA members expect hard conditions in 2012
9 January 2012
The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association is expecting gross mortgage lending of no more than £130bn in 2012, some £3bn lower than the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ prediction.
-
Irish asking prices suffer sharp fall
9 January 2012
Average asking prices for property in Ireland fell by 18% in 2011 - as large as the decline seen in 2009 - claims property website Daft.ie.The firm, which claims to be Ireland’s biggest property site, says asking prices dropped by 7.7% in the three months to December, the sharpest quarterly price fall to date.It takes the average asking price to just over €175,000 - 52% below its 2007 peak of €366,000. Dublin saw a drop in Q4 2011 of 8.9%.
-
Lender increases LTV and scope for landlords
9 January 2012
Aldermore is today increasing its maximum LTV for buy-to-let products from 75% to 80%.
-
Lenders urged to re-examine niche criteria as MMR clarifies guidance
9 January 2012
Brokers are calling on lenders to review their criteria for niche areas such as interest-only, following publication of the Mortgage Market Review final consultation paper last month.
-
Loud & Clear
9 January 2012
Brokers have welcomed moves in the FSA’s latest MMR paper to ban non-advised sales and demand greater clarity over lenders’ provision of advice to consumers
-
Marketwatch - January 2012
9 January 2012
So here we all are in 2012 and welcome to my inaugural Marketwatch column. Stepping into the shoes of Jonathan Cornell is more than a little daunting and I will do my best to honour the spirit of the column while offering my own strange spin on events.
-
MPs want more accountability from FCA
13 Jan 2012
Treasury select committee report says current proposals do not provide adequate scope for scrutiny and must be improved.
-
MS Leader: Plenty to be positive about
9 January 2012
-
Negligence claims could drop after GMAC-RFC vs Countrywide verdict
9 January 2012
A ruling in a High Court case between GMAC-RFC and Countrywide Surveyors could result in fewer lenders making claims of negligence against surveyors.
-
New role is emerging for financial advisers
9 January 2012
We have seen the first signs of poor standards in the legal services industry finally coming home to roost.
-
November's 2.5% drop in mortgage approvals fuels future lending fears
9 January 2012
A fall in the number of mortgage approvals in November has triggered concerns over lending levels for the coming months.
-
Only better will do for prosperous new year
9 January 2012
I was not surprised after Christmas to receive the usual predictions on mortgage lending, house prices, etc.
-
Paper shows FSA is at last listening to the industry
9 January 2012
-
Paragon reduces rent income requirements for B2L deals
9 January 2012
Paragon Mortgages has lowered its rental income requirement and launched a new range of products.
-
Payday loans used to fill rent and mortgage gaps
9 January 2012
Almost one million people have taken out a payday loan to help keep up with their rent or mortgage payments in the last 12 months, according to research by Shelter.
-
Report lacks focus on elderly care, says MP
9 January 2012
The Dilnot Commission report into the funding of care for the elderly does not focus enough on the quality of care older people receive, according to a Conservative MP.
-
Service sector growth brings economic hope
9 January 2012
Greater than expected growth in the service sector in December has raised hopes that the UK economy can avoid a contraction in Q4 2011.
-
Shadow MPC
9 January 2012
Welcome to 2012 and my first predictions for the year. In 2011 I found a different way every month to predict that base rates will stay on hold.
-
Stable foundations for industry building
9 January 2012
Publication of the Financial Services Authority’s Mortgage Market Review consultation paper finally brings to an end a period of fevered speculation over the proposals.
-
Stormy waters leave forecasters all at sea
9 January 2012
For the last couple of years, the mortgage market has traded in a very narrow range. Last summer showed some signs of an underlying improvement in volumes but the onset of the euro crisis and extremely disappointing UK economic growth figures have dampened any prospect of recovery.
-
Stringent conditions lead to drop in consumer demand
9 January 2012
Consumer demand for mortgages fell in Q4 2011, according to lenders.
-
The Blindfolded Masochist
9 January 2012
Two heads are supposedly better than one - but they can also be more destructive, as Michael Baxter argues in The Blindfolded Masochist.The book’s tagline - “Creation versus destruction, the power of economic networks” - is somewhat misleading.
-
The Mortgage Mole
9 January 2012
Not quite like a virgin… The long path to the dustbin of history has begun for the Northern Rock brand after its takeover by Virgin Money.
-
TPAs will need to be creative to survive
9 January 2012
The mortgage market has changed hugely since the seismic shocks of 2007/8 - and not just for lenders and borrowers.
-
Value is best defence against pricing fears
9 January 2012
There are fears that the European Court of Justice ruling against gender inequality reflected in insurance premiums could push up the price of protection products throughout 2012/13.
-
Woolwich loses contact for two days
9 January 2012
Woolwich’s back office system for processing buy-to-let cases crashed for two days last week, preventing brokers from submitting new cases.
