Mortgage Strategy articles from January 2009

Mortgage Strategy archives from January 2009

COMMENT: A new year revolution.
January 12, 2009... It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the...

LENDERS: BoI pullout could force lenders to tighten belts.
January 12, 2009... Fears are mounting that Bank of Ireland's withdrawal from the broker market could have a serious knock-on effect and force other lenders to further constrain their lending criteria. Bank of Ireland terminated its presence in the broker...

LENDERS: Edeus owed big banks #13m when it closed.
January 12, 2009... Edeus went to the wall owing more than #13m to banking giants Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. Administrator KPMG's report also reveals that edeus, the firm set up by Michael Bolton in 2006, lost more than #336,000 from a company it...

MORTGAGE MARKET: Losses won't be as bad as 1990s.
January 12, 2009... Mortgage losses expected this year will not be as severe as in the last recession, a leading banking expert predicts. The latest financial services survey from the Confederation of Business Industry and PricewaterhouseCoopers reports the...

PROUDCTS: A&L launches three exclusive broker deals.
January 12, 2009... Alliance & Leicester has introduced three broker-only deals to reaffirm its commitment to the mortgage market. The two-year fixed rate remortgage products will be distributed through three of A&L's broker-facing partners - Premier...

STRAW POLL: Brokers unhappy about superbank.
January 12, 2009... A whopping 63% of Mortgage Strategy Online readers say they are not in favour of the newly formed Lloyds Banking Group. With the only outfit against the Lloyds TSB/HBOS merger throwing in the proverbial towel just before Christmas, it...

BROKERS: Hamptons staff in consultation.
January 12, 2009... The 16 staff at Hamptons Mortgages were last week placed on a 30-day consultation as part of a strategic review by parent group Hamptons International. A spokeswoman for Hamptons International says that the review will consider whether...

RAMP collapse seen as beginning of the end for packaging industry.
January 12, 2009... The demise of the Regulatory Association of Mortgage Packagers last week has been hailed as another nail in the coffin of the packager market. RAMP, which was launched in 2003, has followed in the footsteps of the Professional Mortgage...

APPOINTMENT: Insolvent bosses to get a little help.
January 12, 2009... Declan Tighe, former director of insolvency at McCambridge Duffy, has joined London-based Middleton Partners in a role that will see him take responsibility for helping the directors of firms that face going bust. Tighe, who will take on...

IN BRIEF: NAB may sell off UK banking subsidiaries.(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... National Australia Bank could sell off its UK banking subsidiaries - Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank as part of a general review of its business operations. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

BROKERS: Face-to-face is not always the best way to do business.
January 12, 2009... Brokers should ditch the long-held notion that face-to-face appointments are the only way to do business, one mortgage broker claims. Lawrence Robbins, partner at Middlesex-based brokerage AMortgageNow.co.uk, sources and contacts clients...

PROTECTION: Don't sell clients short on cover.
January 12, 2009... Paymentshield has warned brokers not to shy away from offering protection products to clients. With the recession biting hard, many consumers are looking at reducing their outgoings and avoiding taking out insurance. But Sandy...

SECURED LOANS: Fears grow for sub-prime specialist.
January 12, 2009... Fresh doubts hung over the future of sub-prime lender Cattles last week after it revealed it was axing 1,000 jobs and scaling back the amount of business it does. The specialist lender will continue to write business in 2009 but new...

MORTGAGE CLUBS: HBOS stars to shine in live L&G webcast.
January 12, 2009... Two leading lights at HBOS are poised to give their views on the 2009 housing market in a live web broadcast to be hosted by Legal & General Mortgage Club. Nigel Stockton, managing director of HBOS Intermediaries, and Martin Ellis,...

IN BRIEF: Former Amber director takes role at Clarity.(Brief article)
January 12, 2009... Mike Perry, former associate director of sales and marketing at Amber Home Loans, has joined Clarity Credit Management Solutions as sales and marketing director. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

LENDERS: HSBC's net market share could hit 20% this year, says Boulger.
January 12, 2009... HSBC's net share of the mortgage market could grow to 20% in 2009 if the bank hits its lending targets, industry pundit Ray Boulger predicts. HSBC, which does not deal with brokers, is looking to boost its gross lending from the #12.8bn...

TECHNOLOGY: Edge system enhances offering.
January 12, 2009... Enterprise Group's Edge system is spreading its wings to source the whole of the market in an attempt to compete with traditional sourcing systems. The system has its roots in the sub-prime market but has been enhanced to source a range...

PEOPLE: Summit special in the Himalayas.
January 12, 2009... Michael Lockyer, managing partner at Nightingale Associates, the financial services arm of Mercer & Hole Chartered Accountants, has climbed the Arna Dablam mountain in Nepal. Lockyer scaled all 6,854m of the Himalayan peak, which 50 years...

ANALYSIS: MARKETWATCH - 12.01.09.
January 12, 2009... Last week's base rate cut won't mean anything to new borrowers - tracker rates will be repriced upwards and fixed rates won't come down Swaps have plummeted to levels I have never seen before - the graph looks like a cliff. It's a shame...

ANALYSIS: We must seek out other opportunities.
January 12, 2009... I for one won't be sad to see the back of 2008. It was, undoubtedly, an annus horribilis for the mortgage market. My view of 2009 is that it will be a difficult and challenging year for the country, as well as being particularly painful...

ANALYSIS: It's good news for property prices.
January 12, 2009... Well, here we are in 2009 and while I appreciate there is still a lot of negative press and sentiment being banded about, as an eternal optimist I can still see reasons to be cheerful. It seems some have followed my lead and made...

ANALYSIS: Now's the time to protect your clients.
January 12, 2009... The new year is traditionally the time when we all resolve to turn over a new leaf and vow that this year will be better than last. In the past resolutions have centred on health and fitness goals, with January being the busiest month for...

ANALYSIS: Good service and knowledge are key.
January 12, 2009... As we enter the new year, we are still being haunted by stories of large companies turning to the government for financial bailouts. This year, consumers will be reassessing their purchasing decisions based on different criteria and may shy...

ANALYSIS: HIP advantage of the credit crunch.
January 12, 2009... When housing minister Margaret Beckett pushed back the first day marketing deadline for Home Information Packs to April 6, it came as no surprise. From inception, HIPs have been dogged by delays and poor decision- making. But why the delay...

ANALYSIS: Tough times in remortgage market.
January 12, 2009... The sharp reductions in the base rate from October to December signalled a change in policy by the Monetary Policy Committee and probably caught a lot of people off-guard. Less than six months ago, with the Bank of England base rate at 5%...

ANALYSIS: Cross-selling can offer swift returns.
January 12, 2009... Christmas has come and gone and the same old repeats have had the temerity to grace our television screens. But much as I love Dad's Army, it seems like for much of last year we have lived through a financial blitz of our own and Private...

ANALYSIS: Keep your online window sparkling.
January 12, 2009... As consumers, we've grown to take the internet for granted as an immediate source of information, goods and services. We're no longer restricted by geography or opening hours as the internet offers us a worldwide market that's always open...

OPINION: Don't get caught in the headlights of 2009.
January 12, 2009... Kevin Paterson Sales and market director Assurance Solutions Intermediary For some time now there have been predictions about the length and depth of the recession we are in. But there is little evidence of innovation from our industry,...

LETTER: FSA oblivious to our financial constraints.(Letter to the editor)
January 12, 2009... I constantly read articles which state that brokers play an important role in the mortgage process, with 70% of consumers preferring to use their expertise. But the only people who seem to recognise our value are clients. No-one cares...

LETTER: Advice arena has evolved quicker due to credit crunch.(Letter to the editor)
January 12, 2009... If we are looking for any upside in this time of upheaval, it is evident that significant changes in the advice arena are taking place that would have taken much longer to evolve, if it had not been for the credit crunch. Having fought...

LETTER: Lord Lipsey never asked FSCP for a bigger budget.(Letter to the editor)
January 12, 2009... Regarding Lord Lipsey's resignation as chairman of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, in his resignation letter and in interviews he gives the impression that he fought for a wider role at the FSCP and that he was refused a doubled...

LETTER: CC's proposals on PPI are crazy and contradict FSA.(Letter to the editor)
January 12, 2009... I think the Competition Commission's recommendations regarding payment protection insurance is crazy and poorly thought out. It also contradicts those made by the FSA, which says we should recommend MPPI when arranging mortgages and...

LETTER: Lender partnership could save clients from repossession.(Letter to the editor)
January 12, 2009... I agree with the points made by Julien Holmes in his letter entitled 'Deferment plan could lead to a bonkers situation' (Mortgage Strategy December 15). Delaying repossession action by up to six months creates an unnecessary vacuum,...

LETTER: Unfair Abbey offers poor rates to its existing clients.(Letter to the editor)
January 12, 2009... Imagine a premium brand lender such as Abbey not offering existing customers a competitive rate on mortgage review. I recently phoned Abbey after my client had done so to check she had not misunderstood what she had been offered. But sure...

FEATURE: Decision time for advisers.
January 12, 2009... To remain directly authorised or opt for appointed representative status is a pertinent question in the current market. And although research shows growing support for the latter proposition, advisers must consider both options carefully ...

FEATURE: Making the case for going AR or staying DA.
January 12, 2009... Fahim Antoniades partner Quantum Mortgage Brokers Financial services is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the UK and the burden this places on practitioners in term of time, cost and responsibility is now greater than ever....

Curriculumvitae: Garry Stran.
January 12, 2009... Garry Stran, chief executive, Clarity and chairman Fieldcall Describe your current job I am chief executive of Clarity Credit Management, a business I co- founded in 2005 after nearly 20 years at Nationwide. Fieldcall is a wholly-owned...

The week in numbers: 12.01.09.
January 12, 2009... An 8.6% fall in property prices in the next 12 months is expected by the public. Respondents to the Building Societies Association's property price tracker survey found the threat of a recession looms large and may hamper the market's recovery...

COMMENT: Clean up your act networks.
January 19, 2009... Networks have increasingly been treading a fine line as the credit crunch starts to bite even harder. The late payment of fees to appointed representatives always raises an eyebrow at Mortgage Strategy but excuses regarding why this is...

LENDERS: Lender warns networks to pay brokers on time.
January 19, 2009... A top six lender has warned networks that if they don't start paying brokers on time they will pay them direct. The credit crunch has caused severe cash flow problems for several networks and it has been their appointed representatives who...

BUY-TO-LET: Property portal to help B2L investors.
January 19, 2009... Dominic Toller, former director of marketing and new business at LMS, has unveiled a business venture targeting buy-to-let investors. Toller has spear-headed the creation of Property Earth, an online portal which looks to match up mainly...

PRODUCTS: PMS unveils A&L remortgage fix.
January 19, 2009... PMS is offering an exclusive two-year fixed rate remortgage deal with Alliance & Leicester at 3.49%. It is available up to 60% LTV and carries a 1.5% arrangement fee which can be added to the loan. The product includes a refund of...

PROTECTION: Insurers make it tough for clients to claim on cover.
January 19, 2009... A broker has warned that customers are being left out in the cold as insurers make it difficult to claim for unemployment cover. Christian Barth, director of London-based Bespoke Mortgages, says some insurance providers are making the...

PROTECTION: Paymentshield and HoC in exclusive deal.
January 19, 2009... Paymentshield has become the sole supplier of buildings and contents insurance and mortgage payment protection insurance to Home of Choice. Paymentshield's sister company Towergate Home & Protect will provide non-standard cover products...

STRAW POLL: No confidence in government.
January 19, 2009... A whopping 86% of Mortgage Strategy Online readers gave an overwhelming vote of no confidence in the government's attempts to get credit flowing again. With businesses and borrowers all hurting, the Prime Minister and chancellor need to...

AMI: Bunton is AMI deputy chairman.
January 19, 2009... Patrick Bunton, director of compliance and operations at London & Country, is taking over as deputy chairman of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries. He replaces Rob Clifford, managing director of Virgin Money, and will sit...

NETWORKS: Network Data thought to have received acquisition approach.
January 19, 2009... Network Data is believed to have received at least one acquisition offer thought to be worth about #5m. The network was launched in 1986 and is the largest non-IFA network in the mortgage market with 659 appointed representatives. As...

BROKERS: Alexander Hall quashes rumours.
January 19, 2009... Alexander Hall has quashed speculation over its future as its parent Foxtons tries to renegotiate lending agreements with its banks. Andy Pratt, chief operating officer of Alexander Hall, says: "Both Alexander Hall and Foxtons consider...

EQUITY RELEASE: Brokers grab majority of business.
January 19, 2009... Brokers are scooping the lion's share of the equity release market as an increasing number of consumers lose faith in direct providers. The latest figures from equity release trade body Safe Home Income Plans show that business generated...

REGULATION: FOS hikes fee but keeps free cases at three.
January 19, 2009... The Financial Ombudsman Service has warned of a whopping 78% rise in mortgage disputes next year as it looks to hike its case fee. FOS will increase its fee to #500 from #450, but still only offer three free cases a year. The Association...

PHOENIX FIRMS: Insolvency Service to get tough.
January 19, 2009... The Insolvency Service is to clamp down on phoenix firms and has warned that unfit directors face being banned from running a firm again for up to 15 years. New rules that came into force on January 1 force insolvency practitioners to...

IN BRIEF: TMW revises buy-to-let fixed rate products.(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... The Mortgage Works has launched a two-year fixed rate buy-to-let product. It has also reduced rates on its its five-year fixed buy-to- let deals. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

LENDERS: Mortgage Express' decision to remove ERCs branded stupid.
January 19, 2009... Mortgage Express' decision to waive early repayment charges to encourage borrowers to remortgage elsewhere has been branded "crass stupidity". Alan Cleary, managing director of Exact, says the move shows a lack of understanding on the...

BANKING: Warning on sub-prime borrowers.
January 19, 2009... Citizens Advice has issued a stark warning over the number of sub-prime borrowers coming off fixed rates with no lender to turn to. Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee as part of its banking crisis inquiry, Peter Tutton, senior...

EQUITY RELEASE: Home & Capital to grow business.
January 19, 2009... Home & Capital Advisers says it is looking to expand its share of the equity release broker market from 2% to between 4% and 5% in 2009. The firm says that despite predictions by Aviva that the equity release sector could boom to #2.4bn...

IN BRIEF: Landlords need to find at least 20% deposit.(Brief article)
January 19, 2009... Landlords unable to find at least a 20% deposit won't be able to get a new deal says Moneyfacts.co.uk, after the Post Office became the last lender to withdraw 85% LTV deals. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

ANALYSIS: Marketwatch - 19.01.09.
January 19, 2009... As the base rate continues to fall, lenders are starting to offer some decent mortgage products but only for borrowers with low LTVs Swaps continued their downward journey though without necessarily bringing down fixed rates by anything...

ANALYSIS: Bad bank is only solution to crisis.
January 19, 2009... Calls for a bad bank have been increasing over the last few weeks as it becomes clear that the government's strategy for avoiding the worst ravages of a recession are failing. The recent cut in the base rate to its lowest level in 314...

ANALYSIS: Time to get to know your clients better.
January 19, 2009... The press has been full of year-end surveys telling us how the population will be reacting to the financial challenges of 2009. One survey from the Conservative Party highlighted that as many as 44% of home owners are worried they will not...

ANALYSIS: Abolish HIPs and ban Stamp Duty.
January 19, 2009... As the Bank of England plunges investors even deeper into penury, the government seems more deeply entrenched than ever in its reluctance to take measures that will improve the housing market. Interest rate movements and VAT adjustments...

ANALYSIS: E-conveyancing will give market a boost.
January 19, 2009... The government is determined not to give the housing market a happy new year. Housing minister Margaret Beckett's announcement in December that the full rollout of Home Information Packs will go ahead dashed any hope that these useless...

ANALYSIS: Bank of England needs to get a grip.
January 19, 2009... The Monetary Policy Committee has now taken us into sub-2% interest rate territory, a low not seen before in the Bank of England's 314-year history. At first glance it may seem to be something of a no-brainer to cut the base rate to 1.5%...

ANALYSIS: Giving brokers a helping hand.
January 19, 2009... It seems likely that the pressure on house prices will continue in 2009 and that constraints on household income and spending power will exert further downward pressure on the housing market. It seems inevitable that this year will be...

ANALYSIS: Give protection a new year sales push.
January 19, 2009... As the high street continues to be gripped by sales fever with shops offering discounts of up to 75%, one sector where we are not seeing discounts and marketing initiatives is from mortgage providers. Financial services companies tend not...

ANALYSIS: Nothing will surely come of nothing.
January 19, 2009... The first time I heard the phrase zero banking being deployed was back in 1995 when it was being used in a derogatory way by a Canadian economist to describe post-Iron Curtain banking in Russia. He summed it up as zero expertise, zero...

LETTER: Remortgaging dilemma.(Letter to the editor)
January 19, 2009... Recently I have been busy advising clients on what to do at the end of their mortgage deals, invariably recommending they stay on their lenders' SVR for the moment. A five-year swap currently equates to a rate of 3%, but the best deals...

LETTER: Why it's time to bring back high LTV products.(Letter to the editor)
January 19, 2009... I met a former colleague last week and he reminded me about a rant I had sent to Mortgage Strategy a few years ago bemoaning the fact that the press had jumped on higher income multiples from banks. I had complained that the journalist had...

LETTER: I was on receiving end of Experian's sharp practice.(Letter to the editor)
January 19, 2009... Regarding your story headlined 'Upheld advert complaint against Experian' (Mortgage Strategy Online January 7) the problem goes beyond the company's radio advertisements. I was tempted into becoming a member in December 2008 by an advert...

LETTER: Another example of Woolwich's anti-TCF stance.(Letter to the editor)
January 19, 2009... Brokers are constantly frustrated with Barclays - or Woolwich, that is - but its recent behaviour is just not in keeping with treating customers fairly. I received an email last week from Woolwich at 2.26pm saying rates were being...

LETTER: We should work together, not hold back on broker fees.(Letter to the editor)
January 19, 2009... As a directly authorised broker I use a packager to collect my fees. I find it easier and quicker to key the application myself and deal directly with lenders. But in these trying times is it right that fees which are due to brokers are...

LETTER: Government just as guilty as banks over credit squeeze.(Letter to the editor)
January 19, 2009... I am writing in response to your story headlined 'Only one lender offering 95% LTV, reveals Mform.co.uk' (Mortgage Strategy Online January 13). This only goes to show that the government is as anxious to curtail lending as banks...

FEATURE: DA dilemma.
January 19, 2009... DA brokers have until April to decide on their regulatory status. We ask a cross-section whether they are considering becoming ARs in light of the economic downturn They say safety in numbers is best but then they also say too many cooks...

FEATURE: Networks show surprising resilience.
January 19, 2009... Richard Griffiths chief executive Network data holdings The table shows appointed representative firms in IFA and mortgage networks as of December 31 2008. There have been a number of structural changes to the tables, whereby both Network...

INTERVIEW: It's Evalution.(Interview)
January 19, 2009... The sourcing system sector is set for a revolution, as Evaluate Technologies' chief executive Paul Fradgley and managing director Jonathan Midgley seek to innovate the concept For the last decade sourcing mortgages in the UK has been...

COMMENT: Writing may be on the wall for old-style brokers.
January 19, 2009... My doomsday brain is taking me to a place where advisers are little more than glorified sourcing systems While 2008 was a worrying year, I continued to believe that everything would be all right in the end. But a couple of weeks into...

COMMENT: How Right to Buy transformed our view of property.
January 19, 2009... The Right to Buy legislation ushered in Thatcherism and turned us into a nation of property owners Now and again a piece of legislation comes along which changes the face of property. One such law was the 1875 Public Health Act which...

COMMENT: We need people like Malone in the industry.
January 19, 2009... John Malone may qualify for a bus pass, but he still has plenty to offer the beleaguered mortgage industry The official big day may have been in December but John Malone, managing director of Premier Mortgage Service, will continue to try...

COMMENT: Use management information to your advantage.
January 19, 2009... Chances are you could be sitting on a mine of useful information which would help bring in new business There's nothing like implementing new software to pull together the ideas of different parts of the business. There was a...

Curriculumvitae: Richard Roberts.
January 19, 2009... Richard Roberts, headof property division, The Route Speak up Describe your current job I oversee the property division of The Route, a City wealth club, which advises members on all aspects of building and maintaining their...

The week in numbers: 19.01.09.
January 19, 2009... The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to reduce the base rate by half a percentage point to 1.5%, taking the benchmark interest rate to the lowest level since the founding of the Bank in 1694. The estimated worth of the...

COMMENT: Time to start lending again.
January 26, 2009... Confirmation that Britain is now officially in a recession was the icing on the cake of a pretty miserable week. With bailout Mark II having little obvious immediate effect as the share prices of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds...

NETWORKS: FSA may take action on non-paying networks.
January 26, 2009... Appointed representatives stranded by non-payment of commission by networks could be given a lifeline by the Financial Services Authority. Mortgage Strategy has been inundated with calls from brokers who have been left high and dry by a...

NETWORKS: Boost for Openwork as GHL joins network.
January 26, 2009... Openwork's share of the mortgage market has been boosted with the addition of GHL Group as an appointed representative. Mortgage Strategy Online exclusively revealed last week that the network is to become an AR of Openwork and migrate its...

LENDING: Broker share of market to drop.
January 26, 2009... The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has warned that net mortgage lending will decline further in 2009 and brokers' market share could be squeezed to less than 50%. The trade body issued its first economic bulletin for 2009 last...