Todays Breaking News On Wednesday 22 May 2013

One in seven people planning to retire this year will depend on the State Pension as they have no other pension, research from Prudential has found.

House prices in Wales have fallen back to December 2010 levels as a lack of mortgages stifles demand, the latest LSL House Price Index has revealed.

Kent Reliance has launched a buy-to-let mortgage for people who are temporarily living or working outside the UK.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Department of Energy and Climate Change have teamed up to produce a Green Deal FAQ fact sheet for lenders, writes Samantha Cordon.

Eddie Goldsmith, senior partner at Goldsmith Williams, is calling on the Financial Ombudsman Service to level the playing field for mortgage mis selling claims.

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, has launched his counter argument for an independent Scottish economy following the Treasury’s report yesterday which outlined the negative impacts on financial services, writes Samantha...

Just Retirement has confirmed it intends to enter the long term care market in the coming months.

The Bank of Ireland has partially reversed its decision to increase interest rates on their on their Base Rate Tracker mortgages.

Gross mortgage lending increased by 4% in April to £12.1bn, the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders have revealed.

Tenet has appointed Gill Davidson as group regulatory director and company secretary.

Legal & General Mortgage Club has launched a range of exclusive 2-year fixed-rate mortgages from NatWest Intermediary Solutions.

The Mansfield Building Society has launched a new range of Shared Ownership Mortgages.

Household finances are deteriorating at the slowest rate since May 2010, the latest Markit Household Finance Index has revealed.

The Confederation of British Industry called on small and medium-sized firms to consider the broad range of finance options available to help them grow, including asset-based lending, equity investment and peer-to-peer lending, writes...

The Loans Engine has appointed Michelle Blair as a business development manager to support its growth strategy within the broker market.

The private rented sector continues to be the fastest growing tenure in England accounting for 3.8m homes amounting to 17% of all households, research from BDRC Continental and Allsop LLP claimed.

Total mortgage applications for April 2013 were up by more than 50% year-on-year fuelled by a monthly spike of 10%, figures from the National Mortgage Index from Mortgage Advice Bureau shows.

Accord Mortgages has enhanced its range of 80% loan to value mortgages by launching four new residential products.

Nationwide and Lloyds Banking Group have embraced the Department of Energy and Climate Change's lender guidance on how to tackle the government’s Green Deal home improvement scheme.

Concrete outcomes are needed from the Government before the summer break to ensure that the Help to Buy schemes are a success, according to CML director general Paul Smee at the CML Cymru lunch today in Cardiff.

LSL Property Services has reported a 10.9% drop in total mortgage approvals for the three months to 31 March compared to the first quarter of 2012, it said in its interim management statement to the London Stock Exchange, writes...

Hinckley & Rugby has cut the interest rate on its fee-free lifetime discount mortgage from 3.49% to 3.19% for purchases and remortgages up to 80% loan to value.

Secured lending in April has broken through the £40m barrier for the first time in three years, the Secured Loan Index from Loans Warehouse revealed.

London saw average advertised increase for the first time in four months this April, research from Move with Us has revealed.

Fluent Money has launched a new version of its industry-leading smartphone application, the Fluent View App.

Confidence trickster Achilleas Kallakis has had his prison sentence for mortgage fraud extended for a further four years, writes Ryan Fowler.

Brightstar Financial’s latest Lender Day with Precise Mortgages has been hailed as a great success by both companies with nearly £5m of potential bridging deals agreed.

Customers still have significant misconceptions about equity release, research from Bridgewater Equity Release has revealed.

Nigel Waterson, chairman of the Equity Release Council, has raised concerns that local authorities will find themselves in the role of advisers when the proposals within the government’s care bill are put into practice, writes...

The NACFB has sold out all 86 presentation stands for its upcoming Commercial Finance Expo, writes Ryan Fowler.

Nigel Waterson today called for action to overcome the knowledge and policy vacuum which surrounds equity release in his speech at the Retirement Income Solutions Forum in London, writes Samantha Cordon.

The housing market is experiencing a steady improvement as higher loan to value lending and increasing confidence bolster house prices, the AMI Quarterly Economic Bulletin has revealed.

The Association of Finance Brokers, the trade body for second mortgage professionals, has secured a permanent seat on the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries board, writes Samantha Cordon.

Stonebridge Group and its appointed representative firms and individual sellers are to become members of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries.

Directly Authorised members of PMS will now be able to access enhanced lifetime mortgages from Partnership, which have been designed specifically for people with lifestyle or health conditions.

House prices in Scotland have risen for the third month in succession, the latest LSL Scottish House Price Index has revealed.

The ticking time-bomb of plunging property values due to short leases has prompted legal firm Goldsmith Williams to draw brokers’ attention to the legal implications and the opportunities to boost client relationships.

Don’t miss the May issue of Mortgage Introducer magazine out later this week.

Bridgewater Equity Release will be holding a roundtable workshop event next month designed to support specialist equity release advisers.

Montello Bridging Finance has moved its offices from the City to London's West End to help better serve its growing investor based situated in Mayfair.

PropertyReclaim.com has warned that landlords and agents face the real threat of fines if new immigration laws proposed in the Queen’ Speech are introduced.

More borrowers are choosing to fix their mortgage for the longer term as economic conditions remain uncertain, research from global business intelligence provider RFi has shown.

Demand for property is now at the highest level since 2009, the latest RICS Residential Market Survey has revealed.

House purchase lending picked up in March compared to the first two months of the year resulting in 42,000 advances worth £6.2bn being offered to buyers, data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders Housing Market Survey showed, writes...

First-time buyer activity increased by 20% in March giving rise to optimism across the industry following the release of the Council of Mortgage Lender’s March survey, writes Samantha Cordon.

April witnessed an acceleration in valuations activity with annual growth reaching 39%, research from Connells Survey & Valuation has found, writes Ryan Fowler.

Santander Corporate and Commercial Bank has confirmed it intends to double its market share in the commercial lending sector using the capital originally earmarked for the RBS branch acquisition, writes Samantha Cordon.