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***New date: please note this conference was previously due to take place on 6 December 2011***
Friday 03 February 2012 News
Goldsmith Williams has blasted Bridging Introducer columnist Steve McColl for accusing solicitors of voicing “ill-thought through” opinions on bridging transactions.
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Mike Lawton has left his role as mortgage director of John Charcol to head up Which? Mortgages as managing director.
As the consultation on bankruptcy reforms closes this week, EuroDebt Financial Services has urged the Government to cut the cost and time involved in declaring bankruptcy.
Cambridge Building Society has appointed Sesame Bankhall Valuation Services as its exclusive panel manager for valuations.
The Charlbury Group has announced that following a three month pilot its AMS: Field Agent system will now be launched to the entire mortgage market.
Precise Mortgages has launched joint legal representation for clients taking bridging loans, cutting legal fees for the borrower from a market average of £1,500 to just £599 +VAT.
The Financial Services Authority has today published a report that shows most sale and rent back transactions were either unaffordable or unsuitable and never should have been sold.
The UK economy will contract by just 0.1% this year but will grow by 2.3% in 2013, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research forecasts.
Homeowners in Leeds and London are the most likely in the UK to make a claim for theft or burglary on their home insurance policy, research from MoneySupermarket.com has found.
Nearly one in four people struggling with debt has taken a payday loan, research from Vincent Bond & Co shows.
Thursday 02 February 2012 News
Brokers will have to pay the Financial Services Authority £13.43 for every £1,000 of their annual income, says the FSA in its latest Annual Funding Requirement.
The need for proper financial advice and affordability assessments are vital if tenants are to take up the offer of right to buy in a sustainable manner, says Hometrack.
Platform will withdraw three of its mainstream products tomorrow, the lender has announced.
Landlords in the East Midlands achieved the highest average rental yield across the UK at 6.4% in Q4 2011, figures from Paragon Mortgages reveal.
Average buy-to-let fixed and variable rates reduced by 0.10% and 0.06% respectively during Q4 2011, figures from TBMC reveal.
Less than one in ten people have a critical illness policy in place whilst 12% have taken out a pet insurance policy, research from Ageas Protect reveals.
Halifax Intermediaries has upped its loan to value on new build houses to 90% on a limited basis in line with its core range of mortgage products.
A £1.5m fraud has been stopped dead in its tracks and the perpetrators are now awaiting sentence after bridging lender Masthaven alerted authorities of a suspicious application.
Nationwide has raised rates between 10 and 20bps on its fixed and tracker rates although its 95% loan to value rates remains unchanged.
The number of new “for sale” listings jumped 63% in January from December, figures from Agency Express show.
Nigel Payne has joined Mortgage Introducer as non-executive chairman of the company.
Wednesday 01 February 2012 News
Zurich has announced it paid out 92% of critical illness claims in 2011 with payments amounting to £64.5m.
Head of notorious Glaswegian crime family, Edward “Eddie” Lyons, is to have £75,000 in assets confiscated from him after committing mortgage fraud, BBC Scotland reports.
Yorkshire Building Society, State Bank of India UK and OneSavings Bank, which operates as Kent Reliance, have joined the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Housing minister Grant Shapps has announced that the government NewBuy Guarantee Scheme and house building strategy are both on track.
LV= is cutting rates on its lifetime and flexible lifetime mortgages, its second reductions of the year.
There are 486 buy-to-let mortgage deals currently available, a 26% increase on the 386 available last February, figures from Moneyfacts reveal.
Cornwall contains the highest number of second homes in the UK at an average price of £247,432 according to new analysis from PrimeLocation.com.
House prices declined by 0.2% in January but are 0.6% higher than one year ago according to the latest Nationwide House Price Index.
National Counties has cut the completion fee on its 10-year fixed rate of 4.19% up to 75% LTV to £495 and expanded the available mortgage term up to aged 75 years.
HSBC, the only British bank among the ten most valuable banking brands, has knocked Bank of America off the top spot in the Brand Finance Banking 500.
Defaqto has launched 2012 star ratings to help people base their financial decisions on the features and benefits products provide.
The Finance and Leasing Association has added new protections for borrowers to its lending code.
Martin Reynolds, newly instated chief executive at SimplyBiz Mortgages, says 2012 should be about building on what went right in 2011, not focusing on what went wrong.
Tuesday 31 January 2012 News
Lending secured on dwellings rose by £0.7bn in December to £13.0bn, growth of 0.8% over the previous 12 months, figures from the Bank of England reveal.
Mark Anders has been appointed sales and marketing director for individual protection and David Williams has been appointed director of group protection at Friends Life.
United Trust Bank has praised the Financial Services Authority’s approach to the latest Mortgage Market Review consultation paper.
The Chelsea has launched a 5-year fixed rate with a rate of 3.19% available at 70% loan to value.
Brightstar Financial has appointed William Lloyds as office manager and Neale Duck as new business manager to coincide with its first birthday.
Mortgage Advice Bureau has signed an exclusive deal to provide Police Mutual’s members with whole of market mortgage advice.
Legal & General Mortgage Club has launched two 95% loan to value deals in conjunction with the Newcastle, exclusive to its broker firms.
Gross lending by building societies and other mutuals was £23.6bn in 2011, up 16% compared to 2010, figures the Building Societies’ Association reveal.
Santander UK reported gross mortgage lending of £23.7bn in 2011, 2% down on the £24.2bn lent in 2010.
First-time buyers have until Valentine’s Day to find their love nest if they want to benefit from the current stamp duty exemption before the rules change in March.
Perspective Financial Group has acquired Gateshead-based IFA practice, Vivienne Shepherd.
The government needs to take decisive action now if flood-prone homes are to remain insurable, AA Insurance claims.
***New date: please note this conference was previously due to take place on 6 December 2011***
Monday 30 January 2012 News
Buying and selling activity in the private rented sector grew in 2011, research from the Association of Residential Lettings Agents reveals.
Intermediaries are in the best position to highlight the importance of products like income insurance given UK unemployment levels, said Paymentshield.
Gateway surveyors has become the latest firm to join the Building Societies Association as an associate member.
Nationwide has today claimed to be doing more than any other lender for first-time buyers.
It is now more difficult for first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder than during the 2009 recession, claims RBS Group in its new Ability to Buy Index.
There was no change in house prices from November to December 2011, according to the Land Registry’s House Price Index.
Bright Grey paid out 91% of critical illness claims in the last six months of 2011.
Oakwood Global Finance has entered the commercial real estate servicing sector, appointing Emily Hadley as head of commercial real estate loan servicing.
Three fifths of homemovers believe that housing is currently a buyer’s market, research from Rightmove reveals.
The supply of homes for sale has contracted by 7% over the past six months, research from Hometrack reveals.
Buying a home in the UK is £116 a month cheaper on average than renting, research from Halifax reveals.
Twice as many mortgage holders save regularly rather than pay down their mortgage debt according to new research from first direct.
Friday 27 January 2012 News
Jaime Harris is joining high net worth specialist mortgage broker Enness Private Clients as commercial relationship manager next week.
Sesame Bankhall Group submitted £26.1bn of mortgage applications to lenders in 2011, up £1.9bn on 2010.
Banks fully support, and have been working towards, the overhaul of banking regulation in the UK the British Bankers’ Association said as the Financial Services Bill was launched today.
Sarah Brooks, director of financial services at Consumer Focus, stressed the importance of the newly released Financial Services Bill for the future.
The responsibility for consumer credit is to be transferred to the new Financial Conduct Authority from the Office of Fair Trading.
There are now six mortgage lenders offering more than twenty buy-to-let mortgages with LTVs up to 80%.
Paragon is on the lookout for assets to buy after reporting a 12% uplift in quarterly profits.
Younger people unable to buy and older homeowners unwilling to sell are likely to cause housing stagnation in 2012, research from HSBC reveals.
More than half of potential buyers feel more positive about their prospects this year, research from Santander reveals.
The cost of moving house in the UK has risen at a faster rate than house prices over the past decade, research from Lloyds TSB reveals.