Mortgage Strategy articles from May 2007

Mortgage Strategy archives from May 2007

COMMENT: Let's tell Gordon to get it SUSD.
May 3, 2007... Mortgage Strategy today joins forces with Halifax and calls again on chancellor Gordon Brown to get it SUSD and Step Up Stamp Duty. For the past three years we've been campaigning long and hard, with some success, for the Stamp Duty...

Portman agitator unmasked.
May 3, 2007... Mortgage Strategy has unmasked the man behind the Portman protest group - the managing director of the UK division of the world's largest independent ATM provider. Ron Delnevo, managing director of Bank Machine, a division of US firm...

Nationwide hits back at edeus ads.
May 3, 2007... Nationwide has hit back at edeus for flaunting the mantra 'Screw branches, not brokers' in its latest advertising campaign. The campaign attacks branch-based lenders for betraying brokers. One advert states: "Halifax, NatWest, Abbey,...

Inducement fears force West Brom draw U-turn.
May 3, 2007... West Brom for Intermediaries has made a U-turn on the terms and conditions of its Trigold prize draw because of concerns it might offer an inducement. But BM Solutions, which is running a similar competition with the sourcing system's E-Trading...

IN BRIEF: Horsman returns to BM Solutions.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Dave Horsman, formerly edeus' head of national accounts, has rejoined BM Solutions. He quit his BDM position at the HBOS subsidiary to join Michael Bolton's start-up but the move proved short-lived and Horsman quit earlier this year. Chris...

IN BRIEF: Knight to join Mortgage Next.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Dale Knight, who was made redundant from Prestbury Financial last month, is to join Mortgage Next Network to spearhead its appointed representative recruitment drive. Knight was sales director at Prestbury for a year and also headed the...

IN BRIEF: Debt specialist changes its name.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Compass Finance Group, the debt solutions specialist, has changed its name to The Debt Advisor Group. The name change was approved by shareholders at the company's annual general meeting on February 23 and has been implemented to reflect more...

IN BRIEF: Stamp Duty hits more home owners.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Halifax says there has been a 281% increase in the number of properties valued above the #250,000 Stamp Duty threshold over the past five years. Properties valued at or above this amount attract a 3% rate of Stamp Duty. The number of...

IN BRIEF: RBS applies for advanced Basle II.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Royal Bank of Scotland reports its mortgage business was just shy of #70bn in 2006 and that it has applied to qualify for the Basle II advanced regime. Norwich and Peterborough and Alliance & Leicester have already qualified for the advanced...

Four IVA probe firms named.
May 3, 2007... The Advertising Standards Authority has named four individual voluntary arrangement firms it is investigating over their advertising claims. Debt Free Direct, W3 Debt Solutions, The Debt People and Money Debt & Credit are all under ASA...

89% Of brokers want HIP launch to be postponed.
May 3, 2007... Mortgage Strategy Online readers have made it clear how they feel about Home Information Packs, with 89% supporting the Council of Mortgage Lenders' call for the government to postpone their implementation. Just 11% think HIPs should come in...

HIP providers face mass cull.
May 3, 2007... LMS is predicting massive consolidation in the Home Information Pack market with less than a dozen of the present 120 HIP firms still operating by June 2008. Managing director Andy Knee made this stark prediction last week as LMS became...

BM Solutions plans to offer B2L cascading.
May 3, 2007... BM Solutions has confirmed it is working on a technology solution that will allow it to offer buy-to-let cascading. At the moment, the HBOS lender informs brokers verbally when it is unable to lend the desired rental cover but it hopes in...

Broker wants proof call centre leads are legit.
May 3, 2007... A broker is calling on lead generation firms using call centres to supply transcripts to prove they are not cold calling. Lara Mackie, a partner at MSL Partnership, raised the issue after she grew concerned that some leads bought by her...

Brokers say they lack TCF support.
May 3, 2007... Brokers have slated lenders for not offering enough support before the Treating Customers Fairly deadline. By March 31, the Financial Services Authority expects all firms to have reached at least the implementation stage of their TCF...

IN BRIEF: RBSIP cuts rates on two-year fixes.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Royal Bank of Scotland Intermediary Partners has cut the rates on First Active and RBS two-year fixed rate products. The First Active online two-year fixed rate will be available at 5.39% with a #699 arrangement fee. The RBS two-year fixed...

IN BRIEF: GEMHL develops direct proposition.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... GE Money Home Lending has teamed up with Sesame and Mortgages Direct as part of its direct-to-broker proposition. Duncan Berry, director of mortgage sales at GEMHL, says: "This channel is a growth area for the industry." Copyright:...

IN BRIEF: B2L change for West Brom.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... West Brom for Intermediaries has switched its buy-to-let rental calculations to a fixed notional rate of 5.95%. If rates rise the calculation will remain unaffected. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Blogger calls for justice.
May 3, 2007... A former Paymentshield member blogging for justice over cancelled trail commission is rallying support from other claimants. As reported by Mortgage Strategy Online last week, the blogger, who goes under the pseudonym of Rufus Henry, set...

HBOS says results are no cause for complacency.
May 3, 2007... HBOS says there is no room for complacency, despite it maintaining a 21% share of the UK mortgage market in 2006. The lending giant's financial results, published last week, show that as well as retaining its majority share of the...

TMB is added to Freehold panel.
May 3, 2007... Freehold scored a coup last week after signing The Mortgage Business to its panel despite allegations of a conflict of interest. Terry Pritchard, spokesman for Freehold, came under fire recently following his appointment as packager...

IN BRIEF: Commercial First supports brokers.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Commercial First is offering a support service for brokers to help them sell its products. It has recruited a six-strong sales team which will be the first point of contact for brokers who need help understanding products and criteria or...

IN BRIEF: Virgin broadband property facility.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Propertyfinder.com is to supply Virgin Media broadband customers with an exclusive property search capability. The agreement means property- finder.com has added to its online portfolio, already being the official property portal for AOL,...

IN BRIEF: Online insurance deals for advisers.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Risk Placement Services, the online provider of special risk and impaired life insurance products, will now be available to advisers via Mortgage Promotions, Personal Touch Financial Services and Whitechurch. The three organisations have a...

IN BRIEF: Free client portal from IntelliFlo.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... IntelliFlo, the financial services technology provider, has launched a client portal that is available to users of Intelligent Office at no extra cost. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Society warned on retention.
May 3, 2007... Nationwide has come under fire for not offering an HBOS-style retention policy and been warned it could lose clients as a result. The society's executive director Stuart Bernau recently attacked HBOS' retention scheme for being an...

Lenders decide to quote fixed exit fees on KFIs.
May 3, 2007... Top lenders have bowed to the Financial Services Authority and will stick to the exit fees quoted in their Key Facts Illustrations. In January, the regulator challenged lenders to charge no fees, their original fees, revised fees, or...

Mosaic turns to packagers after polling brokers.
May 3, 2007... Mosaic Mortgage Club is in talks with several packagers after its research revealed 90% of brokers would rather access sub-prime products via packagers than go direct to lenders. Mosaic members said expertise and high levels of service were...

Coventry takes flak over Godiva.
May 3, 2007... Coventry's decision to launch a specialist lender has been criticised ahead of its unveiling. The society has revealed it will be launching Godiva Mortgages, a specialist broker-only subsidiary, on March 22. Colin Franklin, presently...

ING and IF top empathy table.
May 3, 2007... ING Direct and Intelligent Finance have come out top in a customer empathy league table compiled by researchers Harding & Yorke. Harding & Yorke compiles its empathy rating index from a survey in which 40 trained researchers analyse...

Council Tax bills for band D properties could rise by 4.2% this year.
May 3, 2007... Council Tax bills for band D properties could increase by 4.2% to over #1,300 in 2007, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy predicts. A CIPFA survey, undertaken on behalf of the BBC Radio 4's Today programme,...

PTFS launches B&W exclusives.
May 3, 2007... Personal Touch Financial Services has launched two exclusive buy-to-let products funded by Bristol & West Mortgages. PTFS is offering a choice of a three-year fixed deal at 5.75% with a rental calculation of 100% and a #1,295 fee or a...

IN BRIEF: Advisers look to equity release.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Almost a quarter of advisers expect equity release products such as lifetime mortgages to be a key growth area over the next five years, says Prudential. Its annual survey also reveals that for over 50% of advisers, retirement planning is top...

IN BRIEF: Woolwich unveils two-year fixed rate.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Woolwich is returning to the two-year fixed rate market as swap rates begin to stabilise. The new rate will be set at 5.39%, with a follow-on rate of 0.95% above base rate. The product will complement the range of tracker, capped, offset and...

IN BRIEF: More support for Network Data.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... GMAC-RFC has granted Network Data corporate accounts status, meaning its members will have support from GMAC-RFC regional sales executives for queries on products, criteria and case issues. Peter Izard, senior corporate accounts manager at...

IN BRIEF: Lending up for Tipton & Cosely.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Tipton & Cosely reports a near 30% rise in gross mortgage lending, up to #73.22m in 2006. Assets increased by 9.92% to #316m and there was a reduction in management expenses. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Lib Dems warn on housing market.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... The Liberal Democrats have warned that world stock markets may not be stable enough to support the UK housing market if it were to slow or turn. Shadow chancellor Vince Cable says the economy is precariously dependent on confidence. ...

MPs in call for green deals.
May 3, 2007... A group of MPs have put down an early day motion calling on mortgage lenders to go green and offer environmental mortgages. In the motion, a group of seven Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs lament that just three mortgage providers out of...

Retirement Plus offers brokers fees.
May 3, 2007... Retirement Plus has become the first equity release provider to offer brokers both proc fees and trail fees. The lender is to set its proc fees to 2% of the amount released and is also introducing a 0.1% trail fee. Duncan Young,...

Kensington simplifies adverse credit range.
May 3, 2007... Kensington Mortgages has merged its Simple and Extra Choices ranges into a single adverse credit range in a bid to simplify its proposition. The adverse range includes near prime products which allow up to #500 in County Court judgements,...

BM Solutions to fund Pink B2L exclusive.
May 3, 2007... Pink Home Loans has launched an exclusive buy-to-let product funded by BM Solutions. The deal tracks at base rate plus 0.39% for two years before reverting to base rate plus 1%. It has no early repayment charge and there is a maximum...

Proc fees to be paid faster.
May 3, 2007... Brokers are to be paid by the automated payment system known as BACS within 48 hours of exchange of contracts in an initiative by Broker Mortgage, the packaging arm of C Group. Broker Mortgage has secured private funding to introduce the...

Freedom joins BDS' lender panel.
May 3, 2007... Freedom Lending has joined BDS Mortgage Group's lender panel, bringing the number of lenders on the packager's panel to 27. Brokers and satellite packagers who register with Freedom via BDS will be able to access its product range...

Cheshire blames fall in assets on restructuring.
May 3, 2007... Cheshire has blamed a 1.7% downturn in mortgage assets in 2006 on commercial lending redemptions and restructuring during the previous year. The society's group balance sheet showed mortgages fell from #3,696.7m in 2005 to #3,632m in...

B2L market could grow by 40% in next decade.
May 3, 2007... Alliance & Leicester says the buy-to-let market could grow by a whopping 40% in the next 10 years. A report by A&L and think tank the Centre of Future Studies found the rental market is growing in popularity, particularly among students...

IN BRIEF: Victoria cuts fixed rates.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Victoria Mortgages has reduced the pricing on its two and three-year fixed rates. Simon Read, business development director at Victoria, says: "These rates are exceptional and we expect them to be of great interest to the intermediary and...

IN BRIEF: Merger plan shelved.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates and Quest Associates have agreed to terminate merger plans. The decision follows the Office of Fair Trading's referral of the merger to the Competition Commission for further review. Copyright:...

IN BRIEF: Surveyor rewards good service.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Allied Surveyors has launched an awards scheme to encourage good customer service. In the first poll, the team at its Solihull office scooped the top prize for excellent customer service and helpful staff. Copyright: Centaur Communications...

IN BRIEF: Charcol names sales director.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... John Charcol has appointed Duncan Banks as its new sales director. Banks has over 20 years' experience in financial services and has held senior positions at foreign exchange specialist Travelex and Thomas Cook Financial. Most recently he was...

IN BRIEF: TMP brokers to use Convex.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Intermediaries at The Money Portal are to use Convex Conveyancing's online system. Duncan Samuel, managing director of Convex, says: "Our conveyancing system can facilitate the purchasing of a property using a fully qualified solicitor 41%...

IN BRIEF: N&P launches long-term fixes.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Norwich and Peterborough has launched two long-term fixed rates. The 15- year fixed product has a rate of 5.48% while the 20-year deal has a 5.28% rate. Both have maximum LTVs of 90%. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Copland wants top job at Pink Home Loans one day.
May 3, 2007... David Copland, deputy managing director at Pink Home Loans, has revealed that he harbours ambitions to one day become managing director of the network. The former sales and marketing director at Pink got a taste of what the role involved...

Mutual lending to associations rises.
May 3, 2007... Societies lent #2bn to housing associations in 2006, up from #1.5bn in 2005, according to figures from the Building Societies Association. Even though societies only accounted for 18% of total mortgage lending in 2006, mutuals boasted a...

First-timers begin to cut the apron strings.
May 3, 2007... First-time buyers are starting to ditch parental help and fend for themselves when it comes to buying their first homes, Abbey reveals. A survey by Abbey has found that first-time buyers are less likely to ask their parents to help them...

Armed forces get the chance to buy abroad.
May 3, 2007... Conti Financial has teamed up with Forces Financial to offer members of the armed forces, the police and Ministry of Defence employees the chance to buy abroad. Simon Conn, managing director of Conti, says: "With a vast number of people...

Boosting confidence in MPPI.
May 3, 2007... CETA is attempting to restore brokers' confidence in mortgage payment protection insurance by introducing a more detailed fact-find that includes additional customer questions. The broker insurance network is concerned that the Office of...

Wimpey to accept exchange bonds.
May 3, 2007... George Wimpey is offering house buyers the opportunity to opt out of paying cash deposits by using an exchange bond designed by The Exchange Insurance Company. The house builder is the first in the UK to use exchange bonds as financial...

IN BRIEF: Countrywide signs HIP deal.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... US firm MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has signed a contract with estate agency Countrywide to be its lead supplier of Home Information Packs. MDA will receive all Countrywide's HIP orders and execute them supported by a back-up...

IN BRIEF: PMPA launches TMB exclusives.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... The Professional Mortgage Packagers Alliance has released a range of exclusive products from The Mortgage Business. The deals include three fixed rate options within TMB's Self 85 range. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

FTBs go for high LTV deals.
May 3, 2007... First-time buyers opting for mortgages with LTVs over 100% are doing so to preserve capital to decorate their homes rather than cover deposits, a survey reveals. Research from Mortgage Advice Bureau has found the number of first-time...

MPs attack First Direct Bank over extra charges.
May 3, 2007... MPs have slammed HSBC-owned First Direct Bank for slapping extra charges on current account holders who do not have mortgages with it. In a recent early day motion, five Labour MPs expressed concern over First Direct's decision to levy a...

System eliminates re-keying of data.
May 3, 2007... Trustguard and Invent Software have developed a generic application form to eliminate the need for brokers to re-key customer information when applying to several lenders. The technology solution, called i-MAP, creates an online generic...

IN BRIEF: Lettings market strong in Q4 2006.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... The National Association of Estate Agents says there was a strong market for UK residential lettings in Q4 2006. It says affordability, an increase in immigration and strong interest in bricks and mortar as an investment contributed to a...

IN BRIEF: AfI to sponsor AMI dinner again.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Abbey for Intermediaries will be the main sponsor of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries' annual dinner on June 19. This is the second year the lender has sponsored the event. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Bright launches introducer website.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Bright Finance has launched a business website for introducers. The website, designed by Sheffield firm Technophobia, is the first phase of Bright's project to provide web-based services to its introducers. Copyright: Centaur Communications...

IN BRIEF: Free compliance checks from MT.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... The Mortgage Times Group is offering brokers who visit its business development forums free compliance health checks. The checks include threehour visits by representatives of the MT compliance department with immediate feedback and a critique...

IN BRIEF: Investec in #350m securitisation deal.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Investec Principle Finance has completed a #350m residential mortgage securitisation, Landmark Mortgage Securities No 2 PLC. The mortgage loans were acquired from Infinity Mortgages, Unity Homeloans and Amber Homeloans. Copyright:...

IN BRIEF: Pink reshuffles executive team.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Pink Home Loans has unveiled its new-look executive team including Kay Leslie as network services director and Elliott Stoneham as chief operating officer. Lisa Hurley has been appointed associate director of finance. Copyright: Centaur...

IN BRIEF: UCB Home Loans cuts fixed rates.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... UCB Home Loans is reducing fixed rates across its range of self-cert and buy-to-let mortgages. Two-year fixed rates are being cut by 0.25%, three-year fixed rates by 0.2% and five-year fixed rates by 0.1%. Lenders are increasingly...

Would you prefer a low fee, high rate deal or a high fee, low rate one?
May 3, 2007... Lenders are increasingly offering split pricing on products so borrowers can opt for fee-free deals with higher interest rates or products with higher fees and lower rates. But last week MPs accused lenders of charging high fees to keep rates...

Secured loan brokers get advice on complaints.
May 3, 2007... The Association of Finance Brokers has produced a factsheet outlining what secured loan brokers need to do to comply with new complaints handling rules. As part of the Consumer Credit Act which comes into force on April 6, the Financial...

ANALYSIS: Market watch - 05.03.07.
May 3, 2007... Swaps continued to fall last week. Who knows, maybe we will start to see a few fixed rates coming down. Swaps have managed to edge down about 0.18% since their peak towards the end of January. * One-year money is down 0.04% at 5.76% *...

Are first-time buyers being priced off ladder by buy-to-let market?
May 3, 2007... The government should address the undersupply of housing and Stamp Duty thresholds rather than blame buy-to-let, say our experts John Heron is managing director of Paragon Mortgages Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show the...

ANALYSIS: Experts should not make mistakes.
May 3, 2007... Mortgages seem to be the in thing for MPs to get stuck into as the subject for early day motions. These motions allow MPs to call for a debate on any topic they feel deserves attention. It's easy to take these things terribly seriously but even...

ANALYSIS: Don't forget the quiet green heroes.
May 3, 2007... UCB Home Loans has been asking mortgage brokers what they think about environmentally-friendly home loans and will be releasing its results this week. Nationwide's specialist intermediary lender is the latest to jump on the green...

ANALYSIS: Travel agents face same fate as brokers.
May 3, 2007... It seems the Financial Services Authority might soon end up with another sector to regulate - travel agents. In February, the Treasury Select Committee published a damning report on the sale of bundled travel insurance - i.e. policies sold by...

ANALYSIS: Stand up to lenders' divisive tactics.
May 3, 2007... The tactic of divide and rule has been used to devastating effect throughout the annals of social, economic and commercial history. Presently, lenders in the mortgage market are employing it to take advantage of brokers in a bid to have their...

ANALYSIS: Sub-prime lenders do a prime job.
May 3, 2007... I have never been one to think of people in stereotypical ways. Now this principle is affecting the way I think about how mortgage lenders are categorised. At the recent Mortgage Strategy Awards, which was a wonderfully organised and...

ANALYSIS: Mixed response to social problem.
May 3, 2007... A review of housing has called for councils to provide more housing in areas where there are higher earners and more help for social tenants to buy their own homes. The report by Professor John Hills was commissioned by Ruth Kelly,...

ANALYSIS: Mortgage terms could be extended to infinity.
May 3, 2007... According to Moneyfacts.co.uk, 80% of lenders now offer maximum mortgage terms of more than 25 years. This revelation has evoked a ripple of media posturing as though it's a big deal. But, frankly, the 40-year mortgage has been around for...

ANALYSIS: Brokers get economic data that they can use.
May 3, 2007... Given the sheer pace of change and progress in the mortgage market, it can sometimes seem like we are running simply to stand still. But it must be said that the broker sector does not often come across as being behind the times or...

ANALYSIS: Changes that mean we will all suffer.
May 3, 2007... The Home Information Pack issue is becoming increasingly farcical. Leaving aside the question of whether or not they are a good idea in the first place, the confusion that surrounds them is palpable. If you mention HIPs to anyone in the...

ANALYSIS: It's time for brokers to get behind HIPs.
May 3, 2007... There comes a time when, however passionate you are that your argument is right, you have to accept the views of others and move on to work within a new framework. The mortgage club world learned this when the Financial Services...

ANALYSIS: Don't think of IVAs as an easy option.
May 3, 2007... As brokers with the best interests of your clients at heart it is essential you understand the options available to them when they have serious problems and make sure they don't go for what might seem to be easy options. According to...