Mortgage Strategy articles from June 2008

Mortgage Strategy archives from June 2008

COMMENT: A plan to save us from 1970s hell.
June 2, 2008... Another week goes by and Mortgage Strategy is sad to report yet another once-successful business falling by the wayside. As we reveal on page 5 this week, Lexicon Surveying Services closed its doors for the last time on Friday and axed 80...

Lexicon shuts resi surveyors.
June 2, 2008... Lexicon Surveying Services became the latest victim of the credit crunch last week after it ceased trading on Friday and axed 80 staff. The decision to pull out of the residential surveying sector is part of Lexicon Group's strategic plan...

Halifax cuts rates on broker products.
June 2, 2008... Halifax will today slash fees by as much as #500 and reduce rates on a number of tracker products available via brokers. Its three-year tracker up to 75% LTV has been reduced from 6.64% to 6.34% and its fee has fallen from #1,499 to #999....

Charcol restructures as founders pump in cash.
June 2, 2008... John Charcol is being restructured in the wake of major refinancing from founders John Garfield and Charles Wishart. The company is in the midst of a staff overhaul, which so far has seen technical manager Katie Tucker made redundant. The...

Lord Turner appointed new chairman of FSA.
June 2, 2008... Chancellor Alistair Darling finally confirmed Lord Adair Turner as the Financial Services Authority's new chairman last week. Lord Turner had been hotly tipped to take up the post and will replace Sir Callum McCarthy, who steps down in...

IN BRIEF: TMO employee to hold wake for firm.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... A former staff member of The Mortgage Operation is holding a wake for the firm, which went into administration in April. Charles Fitzpatrick, former central services manager, is organising a party to commemorate the firm from 6pm on June 13...

IN BRIEF: IMLA bullish about brokers.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, has called brokers an essential part of the market's landscape. IMLA says 75% of mortgages were originated by brokers in Q1 2008 compared with 25% 20 years...

IN BRIEF: Mixed news on house prices.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Latest figures from the Land Registry show house prices fell by 0.2% in April. This represents a slowdown in declining prices, despite marking the eighth consecutive monthly drop. Nationwide figures for May were more downbeat, claiming...

IN BRIEF: FSA campaign highlights arrears.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... The Financial Services Authority is ramping up its financial education campaign in reaction to concerns about rising mortgage arrears. It will provide borrowers with checklists advising them to keep track of their income and outgoings, plan...

IN BRIEF: Wider access to AfI exclusives.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Abbey for Intermediaries is allowing more brokers access to its exclusive products and raising the LTVs on these deals. An additional seven mortgage partners have been given access to the exclusives including Mortgage Intelligence, Network...

IN BRIEF: #1m mortgages may disappear.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Mortgage deals for more than #1m face extinction, wealth manager HFM Columbus warns. The firm says that while a number of lenders offer loans of up to #1m, above this figure they are few and far between. Copyright: Centaur...

Small firms lose track of ARs.
June 2, 2008... A compliance firm has accused small firms of failing to keep track of their appointed representatives, contrary to Financial Services Authority regulations. A poll of 130 small firms by compliance specialist MS2M found not a single...

Brokers think more securitisations are likely.
June 2, 2008... Some 61% of Mortgage Strategy Online readers think HBOS' #500m securitisation will lead to other lenders following suit, despite the unfavourable terms it secured. Just 39 % think lenders will not follow HBOS' lead. Copyright: Centaur...

Culhane resigns from edeus board.
June 2, 2008... Mike Culhane, chief executive of Oakwood Global Finance, has resigned from edeus' board of directors to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Edeus recently changed the emphasis of its business model from mortgage origination to...

Increase in arrears not confined to sub-prime.
June 2, 2008... The number of home owners falling behind on mortgage payments is rising in the prime and sub-prime sectors, says Standard & Poor's. But buyers with poor or no credit histories are particularly badly affected, with more than a fifth...

Stock Picker: 02/06/08.
June 2, 2008... Figures from Nationwide show that house prices have declined by 4.4% year-on-year. The monthly decline of 2.5% recorded for April was the largest drop seen since the index was launched in 1991. With the British Bankers' Association...

IN BRIEF: Brokers arrange more big loans.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Over a third of brokers have arranged more loans in excess of #500,000 in the past three years, research from Bank of Scotland reveals. And some 10% of brokers say such loans now account for more than 25% of their business. BoS says its...

IN BRIEF: Woolwich unveils lifetime tracker.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Woolwich has launched a lifetime tracker deal and updated its fixed rates. It is now offering a flexible lifetime product at base rate plus 0.99% at 60% LTV. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

MS base rate pundits right on the money.
June 2, 2008... Mortgage Strategy's Shadow Monetary Policy Committee last week convened for the 15th time since its inception last April. In the past year the panel has correctly predicted the Bank of England's decisions on interest rates on 12 occasions,...

Brokerages respond to Sky News expose.
June 2, 2008... Alexander Hall and Chase De Vere have defended themselves against allegations of bad practice. The brokerages have launched internal investigations following an expose by Sky News last week. The television channel claimed a broker from...

Firms could be ranked by complaints.(Company rankings)
June 2, 2008... Financial services firms could be ranked by the number of complaints they receive in an effort to better inform consumers. The plan outlined by the Financial Services Authority comes as part of the regulator's Transparency As A Tool...

Brokers told to make the most of protection.
June 2, 2008... LifeSearch Expert says brokers could claim average fees of around #600 for protection plans referred to it. With brokers finding it hard to place mortgages, the firm says it's vital they maximise protection sales. LifeSearch Expert...

IN BRIEF: LV= launches protection deal.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... LV= has launched a mortgage and lifestyle protection product to protect customers' mortgage repayments and living expenses. The firm says that while many brokers recommend mortgage payment protection insurance for long-term cover, if...

IN BRIEF: BDS unveils e-learning for ARs.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... BDS Mortgage Group has launched an e-learning system for its appointed representatives. Developed with Absolutely Training, the system will help users to meet their regulatory obligations through a series of online courses, updated learning...

IN BRIEF: Regeneration study planned.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... A study into the effect the credit crunch might have on regeneration projects is to be commissioned by local government minister John Healey. He says: "Tightening credit, uncertainty in the housing market and slower economic growth could all...

IN BRIEF: Pink launches B2L exclusive.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Pink Home Loans has unveiled an exclusive buy-to-let deal funded by Bank of Ireland Mortgages. The deal is available to appointed representatives of Pink and BDS Mortgage Group and is fixed at 6.29% until July 31 2011. It is available up to 75%...

IN BRIEF: Warren sets up consultancy firm.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Bill Warren, former director of the Regulatory Alliance of Mortgage Packagers, has launched Bill Warren Compliance, a consultancy that will provide compliance support for financial services organisations. Copyright: Centaur Communications...

Price falls could help FTBs.
June 2, 2008... First-time buyers could benefit from falling house prices this year, says Nationwide's chief economist Fionnuala Earley. In the past 12 months, those stepping onto the property ladder on 90% LTV deals spent an average of 49.5% of their...

Dunfermline unveils drawdown range.
June 2, 2008... Dunfermline has launched a range of drawdown lifetime mortgage products which include regular payment options. The first product, Drawdown, allows either a single drawdown to be taken out or a regular series of drawdown payments. The...

Website reveals true cost of dual pricing.(Website overview)
June 2, 2008... The true extent of dual pricing was revealed last week, with the news that borrowers could save up #880 a year by applying for mortgages direct. Mform.co.uk says last week's best three-year fixed rate mortgage on a true cost basis was...

IMF is no longer up to the task, says BoE.
June 2, 2008... The Bank of England says global economic evolution has rendered the International Monetary Fund obsolete. The IMF was created after World War II to rescue countries suffering from economic crises and now has 185 member countries. But...

PPI complaints to FOS spiral.
June 2, 2008... A sixfold rise in payment protection insurance complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service has been blamed on ambulance-chasing lawyers. In its annual review last week the FOS reported that the number of mortgage and banking disputes has...

B&C insurance could pay for brokers.
June 2, 2008... Brokers could add a whopping #54,000 to their income over five years by helping clients get building and contents cover. Specialist insurance provider Assurant Solutions Intermediary says that while brokers may be unable to compete with...

Charcol picks Evaluate for sub-prime products.
June 2, 2008... John Charcol will use Evaluate Technologies for sub-prime applications from today. The brokerage says that during trials the sourcing system delivered 100% accuracy. Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, says: "Our...

Pink analyst gets on his bike for Jennifer Trust.
June 2, 2008... A member of staff from Pink Home Loans will cycle from London to Paris this month to raise money for spinal muscular atrophy charity The Jennifer Trust. James Hornsby, analyst programmer at Pink, will set out on the 450km ride from...

IN BRIEF: Paradigm unveils protection panels.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Paradigm Mortgage Services has launched a two-tiered protection proposition. It includes a preferred panel whole of market option plus a limited panel comprised of five brands. The propositions are open to all brokers. The deal gives Paradigm...

IN BRIEF: Platform launches lending services.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Platform has launched a lending services department. Jason Finch, previously head of new business at Platform, has been appointed head of mortgage processing within the department. He will oversee 52 staff across five teams, who will be...

IN BRIEF: Paragon guide on B2L tax breaks.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Paragon Mortgages has launched an online guide to encourage landlords to take advantage of tax breaks. Research by the lender shows that 86% of landlords are unaware of a #1,500 allowance for improving the energy performance of their rental...

IN BRIEF: Ussher to address AIFA AGM.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Kitty Ussher, economic secretary to the Treasury, will deliver the keynote speech at the Association of Independent Financial Advisers' annual general meeting on November 19. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Labour peer made FSCP chairman.(Brief article)
June 2, 2008... Labour peer Lord Lipsey has been appointed chairman of the Financial Services Consumer Panel by the Financial Services Authority. The former economist and journalist will take over the post from John Howard this month. Chris Cummings,...

Would you be willing to take out mortgage from your local supermarket?
June 2, 2008... Supermarket giant Asda is looking at referral deals with brokers to help its customers source mortgages. Other supermarket chains already offer such services and Asda has a relationship with Lifesearch for protection products. Whether Asda's...

Fed governor calls for greater transparency.
June 2, 2008... The Federal Reserve commemorated the first anniversary of the credit crunch last week with a speech by one of its governors on the prospects for a recovery in the mortgage market. Randall Kroszner told a conference in Florida that the...

Orbiter bags MPLC veteran for marketing post.
June 2, 2008... Orbiter Group has hired Pete Thomson to lead its sales and marketing department. Thomson joins from Mortgages PLC where he was sales director and will initially focus on the launch of Orbiter's sourcing, processing and compliance...

ANALYSIS: Market watch - 02.06.08.
June 2, 2008... Swaps posted another meteoric increase last week, surging to levels not seen since last autumn. Two-year swaps are up almost 0.66% compared with two or three weeks ago and three-month LIBOR now stands at 5.88%. * One-year money is up 0.15%...

ANALYSIS: Quality of promotions is still too low.
June 2, 2008... The Financial Services Consumer Panel recently took a look at the standard of financial advertising. It assessed promotions in terms of whether they met the standards laid down by the Financial Services Authority and were clear, fair and...

ANALYSIS: Pricing is not clients' biggest issue.
June 2, 2008... The dual pricing debate raises interesting questions about the reasons consumers consult brokers in the first place. It is understandable that brokers would like access to all products but I suspect that most appreciate this is a Utopian...

ANALYSIS: Jam today generation needs protection.
June 2, 2008... Our culture has changed dramatically in the past 50 years. If we want to go on holiday we can pay for it by credit card and worry about it later. When we are hungry we can stick a ready meal in the microwave rather than cooking from scratch....

ANALYSIS: Guidance for equity release brokers.
June 2, 2008... The news that Stonehaven has seen a 50% increase in broker registrations should come as no surprise. Press articles have long predicted that equity release will be the next big thing. Traditional mainstream and other niche mortgage markets...

ANALYSIS: Providers fill the equity release gap.
June 2, 2008... With dramatic product development in the equity release market over the past few years, one wonders what's next for the sector. Northern Rock was the first equity release provider to introduce the concept of drawdown to the market. ...

ANALYSIS: Time to take the remortgaging initiative.
June 2, 2008... The recent rainy bank holiday gave me a rare opportunity to sit back and pore over the weekend newspapers that once again spent much of their time pontificating on the state of the mortgage market. One article in particular caught my eye....

LETTER: Mandatory advice leaflet would treat clients fairly.(Letter to the editor)
June 2, 2008... An open letter to Lesley Titcombe, head of small firms at the FSA I am writing to identify a key area in which I feel the FSA is compromising the financial awareness of consumers. I hope the regulator will address this problem immediately....

LETTER: Sants' mixed messages add to confusion over lenders' pricing.(Letter to the editor)
June 2, 2008... From Andrew Wright I have received a personal written response to my correspondence with Hector Sants, chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, which I mentioned in my letter in the May 19 issue of Mortgage Strategy. In...

LETTER: FSA website doesn't practise what the regulator preaches.(Letter to the editor)(Website overview)
June 2, 2008... From Robert Clayton A couple of weeks ago I needed to produce a combined IDD to cover equity release and general insurance products. At first I couldn't find a template in the usual place on the regulator's website,...

LETTER: Attempt to airbrush brokers from market history will fail.(Letter to the editor)
June 2, 2008... From Helen Pierson Has Rebecca Atkinson been carving out a career on the side at Heat magazine? Her article in the May 12 issue of Mortgage Strategy stating that "lenders don't need brokers now and never have" appears to have...

LETTER: Our distribution of Investec products will benefit brokers.(Letter to the editor)
June 2, 2008... From Alex Hammond Thank you for your coverage of Kensington's launch of structured products provided by our parent company Investec (Mortgage Strategy May 26). The mortgage industry needs to investigate new ways to use its strengths...

LETTER: Even providers agree that HIPs don't cut the mustard.(Letter to the editor)
June 2, 2008... From Trevor Kent Housing minister Caroline Flint will look you in the eye and spew out the Department for Communities and Local Government's line that Home Information Packs save buyers time and money until the cows come home. Sadly...

LETTER: Experts should help improve the market by backing HIPs.(Letter to the editor)
June 2, 2008... From Andre Knee For many years the house buying process has been fundamentally flawed, so why are those who presided over this mess so resistant to change? What do the National Association of Estate Agents, the Royal Institution of...

LETTER: MPPI's short-term solutions do not meet clients' needs.(Letter to the editor)
June 2, 2008... From Robert Faull Mortgage payment protection policies provide a short-term fix for problems that could last years. As an IFA with 20 years of experience, I believe correctly arranged permanent health insurance together with critical...

WINDS OF CHANGE: Natural move.
June 2, 2008... The government's plan to build 10 eco-towns could boost buyers' interest in green mortgages and brokers must remain aware of the deals available, says Mark Skinsley Picture a car-free, waste-free, zero-carbon city in the middle of the...

WINDS OF CHANGE: Consumers don't care about green deals.
June 2, 2008... Roy New is a sole broker With increasing talk of carbon footprints, going green and recycling, the euphoria surrounding environmentalism is gaining strength. The government wants to build 10 eco-towns and doesn't seem too worried about...

Demand for green mortgages will grow as it has for organic produce.
June 2, 2008... Stewart Hunter is head of introduced mortgages at Norwich and Peterborough About 10 years ago, Norwich and Peterborough was the first big lender to offer green mortgages for mainstream residential purchases and remortgages and we now...

Eco-towns are a good start but all housing should be energy-efficient.
June 2, 2008... Simon McWhirter is homes campaign manager at WWF-UK Is there a place for eco-towns? Yes - in an ideal world, we'd all be living in them. But the reality is that millions of us live in homes with huge environmental footprints not just in...

MPC: Shadow MPC.
June 2, 2008... The unexpected rise in inflation caused by spiralling fuel and food costs has led the Mortgage Strategy GE Money Home Lending Shadow Monetary Policy Committee to unanimously call for a base rate freeze this month Melanie Bien, Director,...

COMMENT: Emotion is a dangerous market driver.
June 2, 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 All transactions involve people, from buying cars to paying gas bills. And because of the...

COMMENT: Labour's social housing scandal.
June 2, 2008... The Local Government Association says up to five million people will be on councils' housing waiting lists in the next two years unless more freedom is given to local authorities to free up stock. The increasing number of repossessions...

COMMENT: Regulate the rent-back leeches.
June 2, 2008... Hallelujah! The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate sale-and-rent- back schemes. These so-called mortgage rescue firms have been a growing feature of the fragile housing market for a year or so and worryingly, are not subject to...

COMMENT: Clients still need brokers' advice.
June 2, 2008... Lenders have been accused of biting the hand that feeds them with dual pricing but they are in a tough place - damned if they dual price and damned if they don't. You could argue that lenders are playing a cynical game - tightening...

COMMENT: Cash questions.com - 02.06.08.
June 2, 2008... My client has an interest-only base rate mortgage with Nationwide at 20% LTV, originally taken out as a pension-linked deal. She has been making capital repayments with bonuses. Last year she took out a further advance but a recent inheritance...

COMMENT: We're in the dark about the market.
June 2, 2008... Not even BoE governor Mervyn King knows what economic conditions have in store for the mortgage industry and many pundits' predictions have proven to be hollow, says Sue Read Several lenders including Abbey and Nationwide have reduced...

COMMENT: We do like to be beside the seaside.
June 2, 2008... It could be time to unpack the bucket and spade because seaside towns are bucking the market trend, with property prices on the increase despite the credit crunch, says Simon White I'm fed up with the doom and gloom surrounding the market...

COMMENT: Dual pricing is a short-term problem.
June 2, 2008... Dual pricing threatens brokers' businesses and could make the market less fair for consumers but the phenomenon should die out as lenders rebuild their volumes, says Rob Clifford It's the hottest topic of the day. Even Hector Sants, chief...

COMMENT: Green shoots of market recovery.
June 2, 2008... At last there's good news for the industry as lenders are offering brokers exclusives again and HBOS has completed the market's first securitisation since August 2007, says Mark Harris It's always tricky trying to pinpoint the turning of...

CurriculumVitae: Mark Posniak.
June 2, 2008... Name: Mark Posniak Age: 31 Company: Cheval Property Finance Job Title: Director of sales and marketing Where do you live? North-west London The day-to-day running of our sales and marketing strategies, managing...

COMMENT: Clear thinking will see us through.
June 9, 2008... The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries claims it has evidence that the price disparity between direct and broker products is getting smaller. Not according to our readers. Many brokers have contacted Mortgage Strategy to tell us that...

FSA demands stress tests.
June 9, 2008... The Financial Services Authority is asking lenders not covered by Basle II to stress test new loans that they originate or buy for a 40% fall in house prices. The head of one lender has told Mortgage Strategy that the regulator is all...

Dual pricing threat is over, says AMI.
June 9, 2008... The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries claims it has evidence that lenders have stopped dual pricing. AMI adds that the biggest threat now facing brokers is the lack of liquidity in the market. With the market facing a #30bn...

Em- hikes proc fees on First National products.
June 9, 2008... Mortgage Strategy can exclusively reveal that em-financial will hike proc fees by up to 1% on GE Money Home Lending's Lite and Ultra Lite ranges via First National from today. The deal is available for a limited period and is being...

IN BRIEF: Norwich Union to slash jobs.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Norwich Union expects to make between 1,500 and 1,800 staff redundant as a result of streamlining its business. The insurer says its products and processes are too complex and spread across too many locations. Copyright: Centaur...

IN BRIEF: CEBR predicts estate agency cull.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... The Centre of Economic and Business Research says the estate agency sector is likely to see 15,000 jobs lost as output drops by 3%. John Ward, managing economist at the cebr, adds: "The nature of the economic cycle will determine when...

IN BRIEF: Lloyds TSB to rescue NR clients.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Lloyds TSB has entered into a three-year deal with Northern Rock that allows clients nearing the end of fixed rate products with NR to switch to Lloyds TSB without legal or valuation fees. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

IN BRIEF: B&B hikes rates for new clients.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... Bradford & Bingley has raised rates by up to 0.55% for new borrowers from today. Rates on its standard two and three-year fixed rate deals have risen by 0.2%. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Website slams base rate freeze.(Website overview)(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... The Monetary Policy Committee ignored calls from the housing industry when it decided to hold the base rate at 5% for June. Price comparison website Mform.co.uk says the longer the MPC waits to cut the rate, the more damage will be done. ...

IN BRIEF: AFB seeks board nominations.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... The Association of Finance Brokers started taking nominations for three positions on its board last Friday. The positions are split between small, medium and large firms. To be considered, AFB members must be nominated by two members ...

IN BRIEF: Contracts still unfair, says FSA.(Brief article)
June 9, 2008... A Financial Services Authority review has found that firms are still drafting unfair contract terms, going against the principles of Treating Customers Fairly. More than half the contracts reviewed by the FSA contained variation terms which...