Mortgage Strategy articles from October 2006

Mortgage Strategy archives from October 2006

COMMENT: FSA must stop the rogue advertisers.
October 2, 2006... It seems that brokers who follow the Financial Services Authority's guidelines on financial promotions are at a disadvantage compared with those who don't. As shocking as it might sound, larger or more compliance-aware brokers appear to be...

Paaleads.com unveils eBay-style system.
October 2, 2006... Paaleads.com is offering an eBay-style bidding system for brokers to buy mortgage leads from numerous sources in a move tipped by CEO Simon Nixon to generate more money in three years than parent Moneysupermarket. Nixon, number 138 in...

Kaszczak leaves RBS after five years.
October 2, 2006... Louis Kaszczak has left his position as head of business partnerships at Royal Bank of Scotland Intermediary Partners and will be on gardening leave until the end of 2006. Kaszczak says his exit was amicable following five enjoyable years...

Trigold renews #5m loan for another year.
October 2, 2006... Trigold has missed the deadline to pay back a #5m loan from its three major shareholders and has had to renew it for another year. The loan, which was taken out in September 2002, was due to be paid on September 25 this year. But Trigold...

IN BRIEF: Infinity expands into new offices.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Infinity Mortgages has moved into new offices called Infinity House, equipped with 7,500 square feet of space to support the lender's expansion plans. Matt Gilmour, chief executive officer of Infinity, says: "The constraints of our building...

IN BRIEF: HBOS lenders launch deals.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... HBOS is looking to shake up the mortgage market with BM Solutions and Bank of Scotland both revamping their product ranges. BM Solutions has launched products in its buy-to-let, self-cert and sub- prime ranges. These include a buy-to-let...

IN BRIEF: Lending rises #9.9bn in August.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The Bank of England's mortgage approval figures show a #9.9bn increase in total net lending to individuals in August, lower than the increase in July but in line with the previous six-month average. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd....

IN BRIEF: Spectrum unveils specialist deals.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Spectrum Lending, the super-branded lender distributed by em-financial, Solent Mortgages Services and The Finance Centre, will launch its portfolio of sub-prime and specialist mortgage products on October 2. The Spectrum brand is launching a...

IN BRIEF: Brokers expect base rate hold.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Over half of all brokers expect the base rate to be held at 4.75% when the Monetary Policy Committee next meets, research by Mortgage Express reveals. Overall, 108 brokers were surveyed by Mortgage Express and asked for their views. ...

Three lenders unveil deals as part of HomeBuy scheme.
October 2, 2006... Nationwide, the Yorkshire and Advantage have launched products today as part of the government's shared equity HomeBuy scheme. The scheme, aimed at key workers, involves a regular mortgage combined with an equity loan of 12.5% alongside a...

70% Of brokers back call for personal finance exam.
October 2, 2006... A whopping 70% of Mortgage Strategy Online readers voted last week that teenagers should sit a GCSE in personal finance. With UK debt at an all- time high, teaching teenagers how to manage store cards, take out a loan and start saving for a...

HBOS shuffles its management pack.
October 2, 2006... HBOS has reshuffled its management team, moving David Nicholson from director of mortgages to director of retail distribution. This leaves the group without a director of mortgages, although a replacement is expected to be announced soon....

BM Solutions and L&C win top Pink awards.
October 2, 2006... BM Solutions was crowned overall lender of the year and London & Country overall broker of the year at the 2006 Pink Home Loans Awards last week. Chris Cummings, director-general of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, was named...

GMAC-RFC slips to 11th place in lending league.
October 2, 2006... GMAC-RFC has slipped to 11th place in the Council of Mortgage Lenders' gross mortgage lending table for 2005, knocking it from its number 10 spot. With an estimated market share of 2%, the lender did #6.9bn worth of gross mortgage...

Support for Origo despite MTE move.
October 2, 2006... Lenders have come out in support of Origo despite the Mortgage Trading Exchange opening up its standards to integrate with other trading platforms. The MTE revealed last week that the electronic trading standards it has developed can...

IN BRIEF: Call for red tape to be slashed.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to cut red tape, which they say is strangling business. A recent Sage survey highlighted the damaging effect of red tape on business. Edward Davey, trade and industry secretary for the Lib...

IN BRIEF: Nationwide clarification.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... In last week's cover story about the proposed merger between Nationwide and Portman, Mike Fitzgerald, sales director at Brentchase Financial Services, stated that Nationwide was closing its subsidiary UCB Home Loans and had reconsidered its...

Edeus fees spark debate.
October 2, 2006... Edeus' three-tier fee structure has sparked a debate over whether it is appropriate to charge consumers a premium for instant offers. The new entrant's fee structure is based on level of service. A physical valuation and point-of-sale...

Housing market was unseasonably warm in September.
October 2, 2006... Nationwide and Hometrack both reported unseasonably strong house price growth in September, at 1.3% and 0.4% respectively. Fionnuala Earley, group economist at Nationwide, says house prices rose by 1.3% during September, bringing the...

Victoria unveils range of specialist products.
October 2, 2006... Victoria has launched a range of products for the near prime and light adverse markets. The lender says the range shows that it is making good its pledge to pass on to clients the savings made from its low cost base of being solely...

Scarborough unveils deals.
October 2, 2006... Scarborough has revealed the details of products for its Scarborough Specialist Mortgages arm. The range will focus on simplicity, flexibility and leading criteria with prime, near prime, light adverse, medium adverse and heavy adverse...

Advantage boosts national presence.
October 2, 2006... Advantage is strengthening its presence in Scotland and Northern Ireland with the appointment of Harry McGeough as head of both regions. McGeough takes on the role of head of Scotland and Northern Ireland following 18 years at Dunfermline,...

IBM says market needs improved technology.
October 2, 2006... Computer giant IBM says to transform the financial strength of the mortgage market lenders need sleeker operations that use technology to better service customers. In a new report, IBM Global Business Services considers how changes in the...

IN BRIEF: Birthday exclusive for em- members.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Specialist lender Rooftop Mortgages is launching an exclusive deal for em-financial members to celebrate the packager's fifth birthday. The deal runs for a limited period from September 25 and sees em- members benefit from a 0.10% reduction...

IN BRIEF: Just 4% enjoy call centre experience.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... A YouGov survey shows only 4% of people have a favourable experience when dealing with a customer call centre, with 44% saying their biggest gripe is contacting a call centre based overseas. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

IN BRIEF: Lib Dems call for mortgage cover.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The Liberal Democrats say more responsible lending and insurance are essential to lower debt levels. Vince Cable, shadow chancellor for the Liberal Democrats, says: "By far the largest part of household debt is mortgage debt. It is alarming...

Borrowers warned against extending mortgage terms.
October 2, 2006... Borrowers have been cautioned against extending their loan terms when they remortgage or they risk reaching retirement with their mortgages still to pay. Research from Moneysupermarket.com shows 73% of home owners who increase their...

GMAC defends its binding decisions.
October 2, 2006... GMAC-RFC has dismissed accusations that borrowers are being penalised because of its agreement in principle system. Hamptons Mortgages has accused GMAC-RFC of leaving hard footprints on borrowers' credit files when it issues AIPs. The...

IMLA plans to work more closely with AMI.
October 2, 2006... The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association says it will work more closely with the Association of Mortgage intermediaries now it has a full-time executive. Peter Williams became IMLA's first executive director on September 30....

IN BRIEF: Dot sets up shop near Woking.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Dot Financial Services, the financial arm of Townends Group, has opened its first Dot Shop near Woking, Surrey. Previously, all Dot's team of 20 financial advisers were based in the estate agent offices of Townends and Regents. The new...

IN BRIEF: Five-year B2L deal from Leeds.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Leeds has launched a five-year buy-to-let mortgage range designed to meet the needs of landlords looking for a competitive fixed rate. The range offers flexibility including fee-free options for those seeking to remortgage their portfolios....

Claims firm criticises AMI.
October 2, 2006... Loancheck has criticised the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries for attacking claims firms instead of stamping down on lenders and brokers involved in mortgage mis-selling. In particular, it objects to AMI's involvement in the...

Nationwide launches low fee, high rate range.
October 2, 2006... Nationwide has entered the lower rate, higher fee mortgage sector with the launch of two products. The society says it is responding to borrower feedback and that the products will appeal to borrowers with larger mortgages. The...

Call for more social housing.
October 2, 2006... Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan has called on the Scottish Executive to fund a massive social rented house building programme and desist with its "unsustainable" Right to Buy policy. The former Scottish Socialist Party leader, who...

Industry is bouncing back.
October 2, 2006... The mortgage industry is finally bouncing back after a slump, British Bankers Association figures show. The BBA reports that August's gross mortgage lending was a record #20.9bn - 9% higher than in July and a whopping 24% higher than the...

Abbey Mortgages becomes Complete franchise.
October 2, 2006... Complete Mortgage & Loan Services has signed a franchise agreement with directly authorised mortgage broker firm Abbey Mortgages, making it Complete's eighth franchised partner. Abbey Mortgages has registered a new limited company that...

Association pilots shared ownership.
October 2, 2006... A Notting Hill housing association is piloting a shared ownership scheme that offers 10% equity shares to first-time buyers. The scheme, in association with societies Nationwide and Manchester, offers 10% shares in 10 homes on three...

IN BRIEF: FSA says regime is working.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The Financial Services Authority has published research which it says proves regulation is working. It says consumers are shopping around for their mortgages and those who receive Key Facts documents say they understand the risks and...

IN BRIEF: Kensington appointment.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Kensington Mortgages has appointed Chay Collins as product development manager. He will work on the firm's core mortgage product proposition. Collins joins from Chesham where he was marketing manager for nearly three years. Copyright:...

Countrywide to axe jobs.
October 2, 2006... Countrywide Financial Corporation, the largest independent residential lender and servicer in the US, says it will cut up to 10% of its general and administrative workforce in the coming months. A company spokesman confirmed the job cuts...

Nine million Brits want to live abroad.
October 2, 2006... NatWest International has released the results of a survey revealing that a whopping nine million Brits intend to escape the UK permanently and pursue a life abroad. The survey also reveals that over five million Britons dislike their UK...

FSA to test resilience of market to pandemic.
October 2, 2006... The Financial Services Authority is holding a six-week exercise to test the resilience of UK financial institutions to a pandemic such as avian flu. Sir Callum McCarthy, chairman of the FSA, warns there hasn't been sufficient thought...

IN BRIEF: Tony Corrigan joins MBS.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Tony Corrigan, ex-managing director of Classic Network Solutions, has joined Mortgage Broking Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Manchester. The move follows the appointment of Ian Richardson, the Manchester's managing director, to...

IN BRIEF: Mortgage Talk appointments.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Mortgage Talk has made two appointments to its senior management team. Michelle Brook has been appointed to the role of sales director responsible for the company's national financial services franchise targeted at estate agents. Nick Shemeld...

IN BRIEF: E-commerce chief for Platform.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Platform has appointed Sean McDonnell to the position of head of e- commerce. McDonnell joins Platform after four years as head of web strategy with NEC Europe. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Giving self-build a boost.
October 2, 2006... BuildLoan is ramping up its technology and improving its service to try and educate brokers on the self-build market. The brokerage arm of BuildStore was launched four years ago by BuildStore founder and chief executive Raymond Connor. It...

Packager expands into East Anglia.
October 2, 2006... Mortgage Match Limited, the Nottingham-based packager, has opened an office in Peterborough. The centre will service mortgage intermediaries in East Anglia with support services including residential mortgages, commercial mortgages and...

Fusion offers owners a quick sale option.
October 2, 2006... Fusion Investment Property Services has launched a service that will buy properties from home owners needing a speedy sale of their properties. The service targets home owners who need to sell their property as soon as possible for any...

IN BRIEF: Shepherds fills development role.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Shepherds Friendly is to grow its presence in the intermediary marketplace and has made an important appointment as it develops its growth plan. The society has appointed Lorna Taylor as business development consultant. Her function will...

IN BRIEF: Unity expands support team.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Unity Homeloans has expanded its support team. Darren Shaw and Gemma Leary both join the lender as underwriters. Shaw joins from Southern Pacific Mortgage Limited while Leary joins from HFC Bank. Sharon Loughnane and Zoe Townsend also...

Report urges UK lenders to target European market.
October 2, 2006... Despite UK debt hitting #314bn in 2005, lenders need to look abroad for business opportunities because the UK market has reached saturation point. A report from independent market analyst Datamonitor reveals that the UK is responsible...

FSCS picks up pieces for clients.
October 2, 2006... Consumers can claim compensation of up to #48,000 if they have lost money as a result of their dealings with any one of 64 firms that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme has recently declared in default. FSCS is the UK's statutory...

ExCo launches exchange bonds into the UK market.
October 2, 2006... Specialist European general insurance company ExCo has launched an exchange bond designed to help home buyers find the cash needed at exchange to secure a property. Property investors can also benefit from the bond by using it as an...

Direct Mortgage Answers joins EC.
October 2, 2006... Direct Mortgage Answers has joined Exclusive Connections but will continue to trade under both its own brand and as Exclusive Connections Norwich. Trading since 1998, DMA says the combination of Exclusive Connections' lender panel,...

IN BRIEF: 86% Don't trust estate agents.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... HousePrices.co.uk has revealed that a staggering 86% of the public do not trust their estate agents. With house prices on the rise, buying, selling and evaluating properties has never been so stressful for the public and it would appear that...

IN BRIEF: Name change for property exchange.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Opromark, the property exchange company, has changed its name to The Property Investment Market. This move follows the appointment of new directors to the board and a fundraising of #1.8m. The organisation was founded to provide an...

Societies suffer from low asset growth, says KPMG.
October 2, 2006... A number of societies are suffering from low asset growth and increasing costs, according to KPMG. Its analysis shows that eight out of 63 societies are suffering from low asset growth and there is a huge gap between societies such as...

TBMC unveils 90% LTV B2L product.
October 2, 2006... The Business Mortgage Company has launched a discounted buy-to-let 90% LTV mortgage together with Property Investment Mortgages. The product has a pay rate of just 5.33% and a rental calculation set at a level of 100% coverage at a...

15-Year fixed mortgage from Stroud & Swindon.
October 2, 2006... Stroud & Swindon has launched a portable 15-year fixed mortgage at 4.99% until 2021. The product has a maximum LTV of 90% with a minimum loan of #16,000 for house purchase and #26,000 for remortgages. The maximum purchase loan is #1m...

Sub-prime boom for brokers.
October 2, 2006... A whopping 70% of brokers have seen a rise in sub-prime business during first six months of this year, research from Platform reveals. Platform's Clickthinking survey asks intermediaries about the types and volumes of business they are...

Johnson joins mortgageforce team.
October 2, 2006... Mortgageforce has appointed industry stalwart Stuart Johnson to its senior management team in the newly created role of head of distribution. Rob Clifford, chief executive at Mortgageforce, has increased his number of executives from two...

Halifax rebuts cold calling accusation.
October 2, 2006... Halifax has rebutted accusations it is effectively cold calling via a postal marketing campaign. One adviser contacted Mortgage Strategy to say he received a letter from Halifax claiming the bank could save him more than #107 a year on...

IN BRIEF: MT revamps its core range.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Following the launch of its MT Select product range Mortgage Trust has revamped its core product offering. Included in the buy-to-let core range are two fixed rate products, both with flat arrangement fees. Three base rate trackers have also...

IN BRIEF: Good uptake of POS-O.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... GMAC-RFC says it has had a good uptake for its point-of-sale offers. An estimated 10,000 brokers can now provide offers in a matter of minutes. GMAC-RFC became the first UK mortgage lender to launch POS-O using automated valuations on...

IFS unveils restructured Advanced CeMAP.
October 2, 2006... The Institute of Financial Services has restructured the Advanced Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice. Formerly the qualification consisted of two compulsory modules - regulated customer care and treating customers fairly. ...

IN BRIEF: UCB funds exclusive deals.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... UCB Home Loans is funding the launch of a number of exclusive products with Openwork and Premier Mortgage Service. The first, a three-year flexible buy-to-let tracker launched with Openwork, is priced at 5.29% and tracks base rate for three...

IN BRIEF: Premier invests in new offices.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The Premier Group is moving offices from Shirley to Dickens Heath, Solihull. The financial planning company is making a big investment by moving. The group has sold its existing offices in Shirley and transferred all activities to premises at a...

ANALYSIS: Marketwatch - 02.10.06.
October 2, 2006... It was good to see swaps decrease last week, with longer term swaps falling sharply. * One-year money is down 0.06% at 5.32% * Two-year money is down 0.09% at 5.20% * Three-year money is down 0.12% at 5.14% * Five-year money...

ANALYSIS: Do you think HBOS will have to up game with launch of edeus?
October 2, 2006... BM Solutions may feel challenged but all lenders will have to work harder, which should be a good thing for brokers and clients, say our experts There is no doubt that the launch of edeus is an immediate threat to HBOS' market share in...

ANALYSIS: Impact of EPCs could be far reaching.
October 2, 2006... The Department for Communities and Local Government has made further announcements regarding the implementation of Home Information Packs next June. These include the funding of the forthcoming trials to the tune of #4m. But the topic...

ANALYSIS: Costs and benefits of righting wrongs.
October 2, 2006... I was asked the other day if I thought consumers had been well served by the increased costs of regulation. I must admit I asked for time to think about it. Such a seemingly simple question is a more complex issue once you start digging....

ANALYSIS: Merger success depends on innovation.
October 2, 2006... In the past two weeks, people have been queuing up to acclaim the Nationwide and Portman merger as great news for the industry. It will create an entity with a higher market share and, so the theory goes, therefore be able to compete better....

ANALYSIS: Lenders should help the military too.
October 2, 2006... I've always felt a bit uncomfortable about the expression 'key worker'. Obviously public servants such as teachers, nurses, fire fighters and police officers do jobs which are vital to our communities in this country. And historically they...

ANALYSIS: Politicians think about whom they should help.
October 2, 2006... The political conference season continued in Manchester last week, as Labour gathered for its annual shindig. It was Blair's last conference as leader. While the popular media concentrated on what Cherie did or didn't say about Gordon -...

ANALYSIS: The industry must do more for first-timers.
October 2, 2006... So your clients can now get instant mortgage decisions from GMAC-RFC, with other lenders set to follow. But is this focus on speed the best place for lenders to be concentrating their resources? While people will enjoy the luxury of such...

ANALYSIS: More flexible underwriting is needed.
October 2, 2006... Changes in employment structure continue apace. Gone are the days when people worked for a set time in one occupation for their life, earning a fixed salary each month. This has increased the need for flexibility in the mortgage market....

ANALYSIS: When the creatives run out of steam.
October 2, 2006... What on earth has happened to the creative genius responsible for setting the Halifax's advertising apart from the rest? Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how far below standard its most recent efforts have fallen? Its normally slick...

ANALYSIS: Don't write off packagers just yet.
October 2, 2006... Every year we have pundits forecasting the demise of mortgage packagers. First it was regulation and now it is technology that will be the death knell for packagers. Why? Will packagers be vulnerable to the direct-to-broker links being created...

ANALYSIS: Join the battle for compulsory MPPI.
October 2, 2006... I need your sympathy this week as I'm beginning to feel like a lone voice in the compulsory mortgage payment protection insurance debate. The news that pundits frown on the possibility of compulsory MPPI sales has frankly left me nonplussed....

ANALYSIS: Mystery shops shape FSA's lifetime policy.
October 2, 2006... Take a glance at the Financial Services Authority's mystery shopping results on the sale of lifetime mortgages published last month. It shows how the regulator approaches such reviews and reveals concerns as well as good practices. ...

ANALYSIS: After POS-O, the next stop is POS-C.
October 2, 2006... The intermediary mortgage market has just seen a step change with the launch of instant point-of-sale offers. Technology has reached a point whereby applicants can be given a binding offer immediately. The breakthrough has come as a result...

ANALYSIS: Mortgage Express makes its move.
October 2, 2006... Following some movements in the equity release market it is a good time to review the shape of the sector. The major move over the past few months - other than that made by Stonehaven - has been from Mortgage Express. The lender, which has...

ANALYSIS: Helping ease the burden on the NHS.
October 2, 2006... Patricia Hewitt, secretary of state for health, recently spoke about the future of the National Health Service at the Institute for Public Policy Research. She highlighted the need to make it a service for the 21st century. Her speech had a...

LETTER: Labour will see HIPs are a farce when the dry run flops.(Letter to the editor)
October 2, 2006... From Trevor Kent Home Information Packs were invented in 1997 by Labour to cure ills in the house sales market. The politicians suggested three million home owners a year would be happy to pay for surveys, have searches collected, energy...