Mortgage Strategy articles from July 2008

Mortgage Strategy archives from July 2008

COMMENT: We must strive to raise our game.
July 7, 2008... At the Association of Finance Brokers' annual dinner last week, Office of Fair Trading chairman Philip Collins made a stirring speech about maintaining standards in the industry. Unfortunately, midway through he was rudely interrupted by...

Edeus pays clients to leave.
July 7, 2008... Edeus is offering selected borrowers a cashback option to encourage them to redeem their mortgages early, Mortgage Strategy can reveal. As well as cash allowances, the firm says it will waive early repayment charges and will not charge...

Nationwide searches for fraud boss.
July 7, 2008... Nationwide has begun a recruitment drive to fill the newly created position of head of fraud. The lender placed an advertisement for the role on a national newspaper's website last week, which says it is seeking someone to lead and...

Packager launches with low-cost business model.
July 7, 2008... A London-based packager entitled Strategic Mortgages has launched. Its four directors say they will adopt a low-cost distribution model with buy-to-let, equity release, commercial and bridging work central to their strategy. There are 10...

Former edeus directors pilot two businesses.
July 7, 2008... Former edeus directors Terry Pritchard and Gary Webster have rolled out a pilot for two businesses - The Larger Loan Company and Complete Overseas Mortgage Solutions. Pritchard will lead both businesses as non-executive chairman while...

IN BRIEF: Broker recruits sales consultants.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... Homebank Financial Services is recruiting 15 sales consultants to boost its national sales team. Initial interviews will take place in applicants' local areas with second interviews held at the brokerage's head office in Northampton. ...

IN BRIEF: Record savings influx at BSA.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... The Building Societies Association reports savings inflows of #853m for May, the highest figure for the month since 2002. But lending figures were less encouraging, falling to #3.73bn from #4.59bn in the same period last year. ...

IN BRIEF: HSBC is most competitive lender.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... HSBC was the most consistently competitive lender in the first half of 2008, Mform.co.uk reveals. The bank was found to have the most competitive rates despite increasing the minimum pay rate on its Rate Matcher product by 0.25% to 4.79%. ...

IN BRIEF: John Charcol to lose 69 staff.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... John Charcol will lose 69 staff and will close offices in Birmingham, Guildford and Manchester, marking the conclusion of the company's strategic review. The brokerage will make 39 staff redundant while a further 30 will leave voluntarily....

IN BRIEF: GI firm to host recruitment fair.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... General insurance provider Assurant Solutions Intermediary is defying the credit crunch by hosting a recruitment fair. The event takes place at its new offices in York on Thursday. ASI's workforce has doubled during the past year. ...

IN BRIEF: Good news on negative equity.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... House prices would have to fall by 19% before home owners experience negative equity, GE Money Home Lending's analysis of data from the Land Registry and Council of Mortgage Lenders reveals. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

IN BRIEF: RBSIP unveils two fixed rates.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... RBS Intermediary Partners has unveiled two fixed rate products. They comprise a two-year purchase deal from RBS at 7.29% with no arrangement fee and a five-year buy-to-let product from NatWest at 6.89%. Copyright: Centaur Communications...

IN BRIEF: Portal offers free debt advice.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... Consumer debt solutions firm Newtomorrow.com has launched an online portal allowing brokers to refer clients in debt to its free advice service. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Advice fees cause concern.
July 7, 2008... The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has voiced fears that consumer appetite for advice will be dampened if payments for it take precedence over proc fees. AMI raised concerns after a market statement published by the Intermediary...

Doubts over Nationwide's commitment to brokers.
July 7, 2008... Brokers are sceptical about Nationwide's plans to improve its intermediary service following the launch of its first BDM team for brokers. Last Thursday Nationwide revealed that the BDMs were the first of three steps it is taking to...

Cover to protect against rate hikes.
July 7, 2008... Insurer MarketGuard has unveiled a protection product aimed at borrowers coming off fixed and variable rate deals this year. The product, entitled Interest Rate Insurance, allows policyholders to choose their preferred rate excess. When...

FSA helps save B&B deal.
July 7, 2008... The Financial Services Authority last week stepped in to avert disaster as TPG Capital pulled the plug on its deal to back Bradford & Bingley to the tune of #179m. The FSA confirms it was involved in negotiations between B&B and key...

Payne takes reins at BM Solutions.
July 7, 2008... The Mortgage Business managing director Nigel Payne's remit was expanded last week to include HBOS stablemate BM Solutions. Payne takes over the post vacated by Tim Hague, who left to head Birmingham Midshires' savings team at the...

IN BRIEF: PTP offers #100 bonus to brokers.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... Personal Touch Packaging is offering brokers the chance to earn an extra #100 per case on top of their usual proc fees in a summer bonus scheme. Brokers submitting First National and Beacon Homeloans cases via PTP's online system E-zy.co.uk in...

IN BRIEF: Easier2Move reduces HIP fees.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... Easier2Move is cutting its Home Information Pack fees by more than 10% from today. The HIP provider and online conveyancer says the move will see the price of its HIPs fall to #260 plus VAT or #310 plus VAT for the deferred payment option....

IN BRIEF: Caffrey resigns from C2-financial.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... C2-financial managing director Justin Caffrey resigned from his role on June 20 for family reasons. He will remain on gardening leave until September. C2 chairman David Wylie has taken over the role of managing director. Copyright:...

15-Fold rise in financial fraud.
July 7, 2008... The banking and financial services sector accounted for 90% of fraud in the UK in the first half of 2008, says BDO Stoy Hayward. The accountancy firm's research found that #636m of fraud has been committed in the sector this year, a...

DCLG cash too little too late, says HBF.
July 7, 2008... The House Builders Federation has lashed out at housing minister Caroline Flint after she unveiled government plans for an extra #270m to be spent on affordable housing. Last week Flint revealed that the money will be set aside for the...

M-Next to pay proc fees at point of exchange.
July 7, 2008... Mortgage Next is guaranteeing to pay proc fees to brokers as soon as their clients exchange contracts. To qualify for the guarantee brokers must instruct conveyancing work via GW Live, Goldsmith Williams' online system, while using one...

First National to use just two packagers.
July 7, 2008... GE Money Home Lending's buy-to-let arm First National is limiting its distribution to just two packagers. The Business Mortgage Company and Solent Mortgage Services will be the only firms with direct access to deals from the lender as it...

FSA to kick-start efforts to beat bank crises.
July 7, 2008... The Financial Services Authority has confirmed that under proposed new powers it will be responsible for kickstarting a special resolution regime to deal with Northern Rock-style bank failures. The regime would see measures to support...

BDS unveils satellite packaging service.
July 7, 2008... BDS Mortgage Group has launched a satellite packaging service entitled the BDS SatellitElite partnership. The group has developed a trio of satellite partnership arrangements that provide business-to-business or business-to-consumer...

IN BRIEF: OFT bans debt adviser.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... The Office of Fair Trading has revoked the consumer credit licence of a debt adviser who received home owners' money but failed to repay their creditors. Matthew St John Crossley, trading as the Debt Advisory Company, told consumers to...

IN BRIEF: BuildLoan appointment.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... BuildLoan has appointed Julie Johnston as key relationship manager. Johnston worked at Mortgage Intelligence for five years as head of mortgage products. She will be tasked with growing BuildLoan's broker business among networks and clubs. ...

IN BRIEF: Beacon and Banana rebrand.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... Beacon Mortgages and Bananas Inc will be rebranded as Beacon Mortgage Packaging. While both businesses will remain as separate entities, the move will bring together their activities under one trading banner to enhance their services to...

IN BRIEF: Loan firm sees 25% rise in applications.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... The Unsecured Credit Company has seen a 25% rise in applications from brokers since the start of the year compared with the same period in 2007. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Transaction levels plummet.
July 7, 2008... Transaction levels in the mortgage market are still on a downward spiral, figures published last week reveal. While statistics from the Bank of England show that mortgage approvals fell by 16,000 in May to 42,000, research from estate...

BM donates #1m to homeless charity.
July 7, 2008... BM Solutions has raised #1m for Shelter. Tim Hague, managing director of Birmingham Midshires and Nigel Stockton, managing director of HBOS Intermediaries, presented a #1m cheque to Alan Gosschalk, fund-raising director of Shelter, in...

FSA to step up TCF help for small firms.
July 7, 2008... The Financial Services Authority will assess 4,000 small firms a year from 2009 to help them comply with the Treating Customers Fairly initiative. The regulator is carrying out visits and telephone interviews as part of a programme to...

Conveyancer to pay commission weekly.
July 7, 2008... Conveyancing Alliance Limited is promising to pay brokers commission on conveyancing referral fees the week after cases complete. From this week the online conveyancing distributor will start making the payments to brokers who use its...

Calls for Stamp Duty reform.
July 7, 2008... Renewed calls for a fundamental review of Stamp Duty echoed throughout the industry last week as trade bodies branded the tax no longer fit for purpose. Both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Association of Home...

Average price has dropped #13,500.
July 7, 2008... The housing market downturn has wiped #13,500 off the average house price compared with its peak last October, Nationwide's latest house price index reveals. It shows the average cost of a home fell by 0.9% in June to #172,415, while...

IN BRIEF: LV= unveils lifetime deal.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... LV= has launched a flexible equity release product giving home owners a 15-year guarantee on the maximum amount they can draw down. The lifetime deal guarantees them the amount agreed at the outset regardless of interest rates or property...

IN BRIEF: L&E predicts title insurance surge.(Brief article)
July 7, 2008... London & European has forecast a hike in the uptake of title insurance policies by prime lenders. L&E has seen a 116% rise in enquiries from them in the past year. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

ANALYSIS: Market watch - 07.07.08.
July 7, 2008... Swaps did something strange last week - they fell. After what seems like two months of week-on-week increases it was good to see them come down a bit. * One-year money is down 0.07% at 6.18% * Two-year money is down 0.12% at 6.17% ...

ANALYSIS: Societies' ethos and the B2L mystery.
July 7, 2008... This mystery is not so much a whodunnit but a should they be doing it. I'm referring to building societies' foray into the buy-to-let market. The reason societies came into existence was to liberate tenants from the tyranny of landlords...

ANALYSIS: Brokers can learn from estate agents.
July 7, 2008... I recently went to a conference in London attended by many leading estate agents. Speaker after speaker discussed the issues confronting the market with a candour I've not heard for many years, and this from an audience of professionals that...

ANALYSIS: I'm with Darling on arrangement fees.
July 7, 2008... As a fan of the Council of Mortgage Lenders and a full-time critic of the government, I find myself in the unusual position of siding with chancellor Alistair Darling in his spat with the CML over arrangement fees. Darling's contention...

ANALYSIS: Ask your customers what they want.
July 7, 2008... When markets nosedive as dramatically as the mortgage market has in recent weeks, firms' emphasis has to switch from long-term strategic planning to short-term tactical activity. It's no good pondering the future - you have to do something...

ANALYSIS: The many drawbacks of open letters.
July 7, 2008... The recent spate of open letters from brokers to ministers, regulators and even me remind me of a story I once heard. Lenny the bank robber had done one too many jobs and was doing a long stretch at Her Majesty's Pleasure. One day he...

ANALYSIS: Adverse clients at sharp end of crunch.
July 7, 2008... Bank of England data shows mortgage approvals for house purchases are at their lowest level since 1993. By value of loans approved, May 2008 was down 28% on the previous month and 43% on May 2007. Loans for remortgages have fared much better...

LETTER: FSA tables show the regulator is ill-informed and wasteful.(Letter to the editor)
July 7, 2008... Please withhold my name and company from this letter as I don't wish to be singled out by the FSA hit squad. I received an email from the regulator recently and looked at the comparison tables it has launched at the expense of the mortgage...

LETTER: Brokers still want to recommend direct deals.(Letter to the editor)
July 7, 2008... From Ed Payne I read with interest comments on Mortgagestrategy.co.uk regarding dual pricing, particularly the article about the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries confirming that the regulator does not expect brokers to recommend...

LETTER: We need dedicated publication to explain mortgage advice.(Letter to the editor)
July 7, 2008... An open response to Lesley Titcomb at the FSA from Lisa Fallows Many thanks for responding to my email dated May 25 - 'Raising consumer awareness'. Apologies my response has taken a while but I took the opportunity to consider the...

STANDING UP FOR BROKERS: Fighting back.
July 7, 2008... AMI has been standing up for brokers' rights with regulators and the government during a tough time for the sector, says director-general Chris Cummings We have been in close contact with the Financial Services Authority in the past few...

Kudos to AMI but dual pricing is far from over.
July 7, 2008... Mike Fitzgerald is sales director of Brentchase Financial Services The recent report by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries into mortgage pricing and regulation is a timely reminder to brokers of the problems we face. Its...

AMI has resisted the temptation to shout and is leading the debate well.
July 7, 2008... Andy Pratt is chief operating officer at Alexander Hall The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has led recent debates on pricing and distribution with great expertise. It is easy in periods of market difficulty to be loud but AMI and its...

Report shows AMI is working hard to provide clarity in confusing times.
July 7, 2008... Richard Morea is technical manager at London & Country The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries report deals with dual pricing and details some of the work it has carried out with the FSA on behalf of members. Dual pricing is a direct...

MPC: Shadow MPC.
July 7, 2008... The spectre of rising inflation continues to haunt the economy so despite the mortgage industry's struggles, Mortgage Strategy's GE Money Home Lending Shadow Monetary Policy Committee unanimously votes for a base rate hold this month ...

COMMENT: B2L the beneficiary as debt spirals.
July 7, 2008... Kevin Paterson takes a weekly peek at the latest developments in the market and brings you what's hot and what's not in the world of mortgages The UK's personal debt is increasing by #1m every five minutes. This staggering statistic was...

COMMENT: Ratings agencies must be punished.
July 7, 2008... The world's three largest rating agencies are on the brink of agreeing a deal with US regulators that will reform the way they assess risk while giving them immunity from prosecution. In the UK the ratings agencies seem to have done a...

COMMENT: Yourshout - 07.07.08.
July 7, 2008... Question: My client is coming to the end of a five-year fixed rate deal with Northern Rock and is facing a big hike in repayments on his #167,000 mortgage. As a first-time buyer he took NR's Together mortgage at 125% LTV. Although house...

COMMENT: Lenders find new way to grab cash.
July 7, 2008... Lenders are introducing upfront booking fees despite consumers' struggles while others are grabbing cash sneakily in blatant disregard of FSA regulations, says Sue Read As always, lenders rule. Over the past week or so we've seen Abbey...

COMMENT: Luddite complaints about progress.
July 7, 2008... Technology is playing a growing role in surveying, which has taken some of the fun out of the job and in the case of telescopic ladders has made it more dangerous, says Simon White To the public the archetypal surveyor is in his 50s,...

COMMENT: Expand your offerings to beat crunch.
July 7, 2008... The credit crunch has battered brokers' core business but selling GI and other services or using third party referrals to do so can fill the gaping holes in their finances, says Sally Laker The importance of brokers broadening their range...

COMMENT: Risks and rewards of going off-piste.
July 7, 2008... Brokers must consider working with new lenders to service their clients in a hostile market and although the road less travelled can be dangerous it can be lucrative too, says Mark Harris Skiing off-piste involves an element of danger but...

COMMENT: Innovation is key to avoiding recession.
July 14, 2008... The US mortgage market sank further into turmoil last week as shares in both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fell by more than 40% amid mounting concern for their future. Despite the US regulator saying both firms were adequately capitalised,...

IN BRIEF: Duffy made COO of mortgageforce.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Kevin Duffy has been appointed to the role of chief operating officer at mortgageforce, the West Bromwich-owned franchise with 185 sellers. Duffy was originally hired as a consultant last month. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

IN BRIEF: Checkmate trademark agreed.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Checkmate Mortgages and Chess Financial Services have agreed on the use of the Checkmate trademark after a claim from Chess that Checkmate did not own the rights to the name. The two firms have come to an arrangement whereby Chess will use...

IN BRIEF: First Plus to cease lending in August.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... First Plus, the secured loans arm of Barclays, will withdraw from lending from August 9. Up to 300 staff risk losing their jobs, although Barclays will try to find them jobs in the company. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

IN BRIEF: House prices fall 2% in June.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... House prices fell 2% in June, the latest Halifax house price index shows. But it says the average house price is still 2% higher than two years ago and 40% above levels in June 2003. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Sub-prime assets plummet.
July 14, 2008... Lenders are being forced to sell sub-prime assets for as little as 50p in the pound, a senior industry source has told Mortgage Strategy. Near-prime assets have been similarly devalued with assets changing hands for as little as 70p and...

Money Partners boosts deal with em-.
July 14, 2008... Money Partners has granted em-financial an exclusive quota of funds to distribute its products. The move is the next step in a partnership between the two firms that will see em-financial underwrite new business for Money Partners, with...

Proposal unveiled to merge packager bodies.
July 14, 2008... A campaign is being spearheaded to merge the three existing packaging alliances into one, Mortgage Strategy can exclusively reveal. A document compiled by John Rice, managing director of the Regulatory Alliance of Mortgage Packagers,...

AVM providers team up to reduce overvaluations.
July 14, 2008... Rightmove and Calnea Analytics have joined forces to launch AVM Exact to reduce overvaluations. The two AVM providers will produce a statistical combination of the results of every AVM to deliver a single combined valuation. It is the...

Rental sector boomingH36 Lead Headline.
July 14, 2008... The value of the private rented sector outstrips that of all privately- owned commercial property at #500bn, a report claims. The Modern UK Housing Market, published today, examines how the sector has evolved and emerging trends. ...

Halifax aligns deal transfer rates.
July 14, 2008... Halifax has aligned its product transfer rates between its broker and direct channels. With transfer rates starting from 5.89%, savvy brokers have been reaping rewards as Halifax also pays proc fees for retaining clients. Fahim...

IN BRIEF: RBSIP launches three-year fixes.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Royal Bank of Scotland Intermediary Partners has launched three exclusives on its First Active, RBS and NatWest brands. On the First Active range, it is offering a three-year fixed rate remortgage deal at 6.99% up to 90%, LTV. It is exclusive...

IN BRIEF: NR revises its mortgage range.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Northern Rock is to offer free standard valuations and legals on remortgages. Remortgages are available up to 90% LTV for two and five- year fixed rates from 6.49%. Purchase mortgages are available on the same basis with two and five-year fixed...

5,000 Jobs axed by builders.
July 14, 2008... The crisis engulfing house builders is continuing to escalate, with job cuts of almost 5,000 and forecasts that production could fall to a 50- year low. Redundancies across the sector have totalled 4,960 in the last fortnight alone and...

John Charcol charges #137,500 fee on tracker deal.
July 14, 2008... One of John Charcol's new exclusive large loan trackers comes with a whopping #137,500 arrangement fee. This would apply if a borrower took out a #5m loan on its 4.99% two- year deal, which comes with a 2.75% arrangement fee. The...

Equity release a lifeline for clients.
July 14, 2008... The buoyant equity release market may offer a lifeline for the rising numbers of indebted consumers, experts in the sector claim. The latest equity release market monitor from Key Retirement Solutions shows that 34% of home owners are...

PMS defends proc fees.
July 14, 2008... Premier Mortgage Service has rebuffed claims that it has cut brokers' share of proc fees on The Mortgage Business' products. This follows a letter to Mortgage Strategy by Steve Price, director of Derbyshire-based brokerage Woodenbox,...

Secured loans on Orbiter system.
July 14, 2008... Orbiter Group has added secured loans to the products brokers can access and process via its new sourcing system Orbiter. Orbiter Group launched its Gravity sourcing system for the packaging market late last year and its broker-facing...

IN BRIEF: Woolwich cuts product rates.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Woolwich has cut its lifetime tracker rates to encourage customers to take advantage of the fee-free products. It is also cutting rates on offset deals and long-term fixes, and is reintroducing 90% LTV fixed rates. The best Woolwich lifetime...

IN BRIEF: Easier2Move offers referral service.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... Easier2Move has launched a referral service allowing estate agents and brokers to obtain fixed price conveyancing quotes faster. E2M says Easier2Quote secures a quicker quote, with clients receiving quotes in less than two hours. ...

IN BRIEF: New investment in Andy Moody firms.(Brief article)
July 14, 2008... New investment has been injected into Loanoptions.co.uk, TCF Debt Solutions and Merchant Business Finance in return for a minority shareholding. Andy Moody still owns all three firms via a major shareholding. Copyright: Centaur...

ARs drawn towards networks.
July 14, 2008... Mortgage network bosses claim a rise in appointed representatives joining them is due to declining support for directly authorised brokers across the industry. Gerry O'Brien, chief executive of Home of Choice, says DA firms have no...

Dual FSA penalty for Northern broker.
July 14, 2008... The Financial Services Authority has banned a broker for advice failures, claiming it continues to find advisers unwilling to maintain standards. The regulator last week banned and fined a North-East-based broker for exposing around 500...