Mortgage Strategy back issues from September 2007:
COMMENT: It may be too little too late from Dubya.
Sep 03, 2007 ... George Bush finally got off his presidential behind last week and waded into the US sub-prime crisis with a series of reforms designed to calm the market's jitters. In the US, many industry figures have called on the White House to start writing cheques to help borrowers ...
Credit crunch forces lenders to slash proc fees.
Sep 03, 2007 ... A sub-prime pundit has warned that incorrect pricing by lenders will result in reduced proc fees hacking into brokers' margins. Last week, Preferred confirmed that from September 10 it will cut its proc fees by an average of 0.13%. This follows June's move by Mortgages PLC to ...
Brokers sell two in three mortgages.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Brokers now sell two in three mortgages, research conducted by Network Data for Mortgage Strategy reveals. Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show #345bn in mortgage business was undertaken in 2006, of which brokers generated #229bn, up from #186bn in 2005. ...
GMAC makes #1.1bn portfolio sale to B&B.
Sep 03, 2007 ... GMAC-RFC has made a #1.1bn portfolio sale to Bradford & Bingley following weeks of speculation over its funding. The deal comprises prime, self-cert and buy-to-let assets. Following a 0.75% hike in its sub-prime rates and a criteria tweak last month, rumour was rife that the ...
IN BRIEF: Bush reacts to sub-prime crisis.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... US President George Bush has unveiled an action plan to help home owners hit by the sub-prime crisis to avoid foreclosure. Proposed measures include more accurate disclosure requirements and a broker registration system. He also called for the ...
IN BRIEF: Barclays owns up to BoE loan.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Barclays has admitted to borrowing hundreds of millions of pounds from the Bank of England. The lender says the loan was needed to cope with a ...
IN BRIEF: Sub-prime lenders hike rates.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Several lenders adjusted their sub-prime rates last week. High Street Home Loans increased rates by 1% across its Libor discounted and fixed rate products. Cheltenham & Gloucester is increasing rates on its sub- ...
IN BRIEF: Money Partners raises Origin rates.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Money Partners increased rates across its Origin range by 0.75% from September 1. This excludes prime rates, which have risen by 0.35%. The ...
IN BRIEF: Sales head for the One account.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... RBS Intermediary Partners has appointed Melanie Buckingham as head of sales for the One account. RBSIP says Buckingham has been recruited to ...
IN BRIEF: ABI rejects gay discrimination.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... The Association of British Insurers has proposed axing insurers' exemptions from sexual orientation regulations. It says insurance firms see no need ...
IN BRIEF: Landlords snub deposit protection.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... More than three out of four landlords haven't registered for tenancy deposit protection, says the National Landlords Association. It estimates that although ...
Barclays' US arm cuts staff.
Sep 03, 2007 ... EquiFirst Corporation of North Carolina, the US sub-prime lending arm of Barclays, cut half its workforce last week, industry sources say. A spokeswoman for EquiFirst confirms that lay-offs have occurred but declined to give a headcount. Sources say that several ...
Almost half of readers would buy mortgage online.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Mortgage Strategy Online readers are split on the benefits of buying mortgages online, with 48% saying they would use the internet to find a mortgage and 52% saying they wouldn't. ...
Farr is appointed director of AMI.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries last week named Richard Farr, former head of marketing at Portman, as its new director. Farr took a redundancy package from Portman in July, but said at the time his departure was unrelated to the society's merger with Nationwide. ...
Fake document websites could be hard to close.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The detective leading an investigation into mortgage fraud has admitted moves to shut down websites providing fraudulent documents could be stalled by their foreign locations. Last week, the City of London Police's economic crime department launched the inquiry in response to ...
Consistent data on defaults needed.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The Information Commissioner's Office is urging lenders to adopt a consistent approach to filing loan defaults. Last week Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, told lenders to treat borrowers reported to credit agencies as fairly and consistently as possible to ensure ...
IN BRIEF: Co-op launches 25-year green deal.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... The Co-operative is launching a 25-year fixed rate mortgage at 5.99% with a #499 application fee that offers annual donations to carbon ...
IN BRIEF: Firm launches packager software.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... MortgageStream is targeting packagers with PackageStream, its latest software processing system. The system is designed ...
IN BRIEF: Paaleads unveils community forum.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Paaleads.com has launched a community forum on its website. It can be viewed by anyone, but only members are able to post messages. Vanessa Blount, head of ...
Tories slam housing plans.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The Conservative Party has warned that Prime Minister Gordon Brown's plan to build three million new homes on government-owned brownfield land could lead to unsustainable urban sprawl. In July, Brown outlined plans to build the homes mainly on brownfield land and also called ...
Belfast Expo to tap into Northern Ireland market.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The Mortgage Business Expo is spreading its wings and embarking on its first Northern Irish event, to be held in Belfast on January 30 next year. The growing number of lenders and brokers working in Northern Ireland has prompted Expo organiser Clarion to launch the Mortgage ...
Repossessions up 32%, says RICS.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reveals that repossessions in Q2 2007 rose by 32% compared with the first three months of the year. The majority of repossessions were in the North-West, where auction activity has also soared over the past few months. ...
IN BRIEF: KPMG predicts insolvency record.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... KPMG predicts there will be a record 120,000 personal insolvencies this year. The warning came as the latest figures from the Insolvency ...
IN BRIEF: Clients aware of equity release.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Consumer awareness of equity release is higher than expected, says Retirement Plus. Its first independent research into the ...
IN BRIEF: Click points to secured loan route.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Click says that some consumers should bypass redemption charges and opt for secured loans to free up capital ...
Brokers see automated underwriting future.
Sep 03, 2007 ... A whoPping 89% of brokers believe automated underwriting is the future, a report from Alliance & Leicester reveals. But the lender warns that technology is no substitute for bespoke services offered by underwriters. Jeremy Claridge, head of specialist mortgages at ...
GMAC hires Wembley for TCF event.(Conference news)
Sep 03, 2007 ... GMAC-RFC is holding a Treating Customers Fairly conference for its packager partners at Wembley Stadium. The event, to take place in Wembley's Pitch View Room on October 9, has been named The Cup Final because of the prestigious venue. So far, 60 firms have accepted ...
IN BRIEF: Brokers benefit from B2L boom.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Research from Paragon Mortgages shows brokers have been enjoying increased business from the buy-to-let sector. Strong tenant demand on the back of weakness in the wider housing market has led to rental ...
IN BRIEF: Woolwich unveils two products.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Woolwich has unveiled two deals. The first product is for first-time buyers and is fixed for two years at 6.29% with no higher lending charge up to ...
Property is best investment.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Growth in prime central London property values has been more stable than the FTSE 100 over the past decade, analysis by investment scheme London Central Portfolio has revealed. Naomi Heaton, chief executive of LCP, says property investment offers more stability than stocks and ...
Trustguard to host industry summit in Bristol.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Trustguard Credit Services is to hold an industry summit to give brokers a chance to air their views. The event, on September 27 at the Hilton hotel in Bristol, will also be attended by lenders that will brief delegates on criteria changes and market developments. ...
AfI boss slams risky B2L deals.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Abbey for Intermediaries' managing director Ricky Okey has slammed buy- to-let loans with a combination of 95% LTV and 95% rental calculations as being suicidal. In a round table debate for a special supplement on buy-to-let with this week's Mortgage Strategy, Okey warns that ...
Cheap websites for brokers.
Sep 03, 2007 ... A web design company is offering brokers the chance to establish an online presence and keep in touch with their clients. Riskmedia.co.uk was launched in February this year by managing director Boris Mavra, who worked in banking and trading for nearly a decade before setting ...
Average first-timer mortgage up 173%.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The average first-time buyer mortgage has increased by 173.6% in 10 years, Mform.co.uk reveals. The website says that in 1996 the average first-time buyer mortgage was #39,811, but by 2006 this had increased to #108,917. If this trend continues, Mform.co.uk says that ...
Law firm warns lenders of free legals danger.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Goldsmith Williams has warned that lenders offering free legals with remortgage products could be vulnerable to customer complaints. The warning comes in light of new powers of redress being offered to consumers after the Legal Complaints Service closed a loophole that ...
IN BRIEF: KGB deals via Mortgage Brain.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... KGB Packaging has launched its products on Mortgage Brain's sourcing system. Applications for its packaged lenders' core products ...
IN BRIEF: Website launches portfolio builder.(Website overview)(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Thepropertyinvestmentmarket.com has launched a portfolio builder enabling investors to build portfolios without selecting properties themselves. Investors need #1,000 to ...
IN BRIEF: July lending up 12%, says BBA.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Data from the British Bankers' Association says July's gross mortgage lending was 12% higher than July 2006 at ...
IN BRIEF: Islamic provider unveils B2L deals.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Islamic finance provider alburaq has launched two buy-to-let deals. The first is a 'pay one, get one free' offer on buy-to-let valuation fees and the second is a #100 cashback offer ...
IN BRIEF: Link appoints risk assessor.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Link Lending has appointed Yolanda Bester as a risk assessor. She joins from Mortgage Express. Her responsibilities will include ...
IN BRIEF: Three BDMs join Mortgage Trust.(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2007 ... Mortgage Trust has appointed three BDMs. Jason Wilde will cover Essex and East Anglia, Shelagh Killeen will focus on ...
Would you prefer to buy mortgage online or face-to-face with broker?
Sep 03, 2007 ... In his first trade press interview since floating his company, Moneysupermarket.com chief executive Simon Nixon admitted that he would never buy a mortgage online. He says that while the number of consumers feeling comfortable about buying online is increasing marginally, many remain wary ....
ANALYSIS: Market watch - 03.09.07.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Swaps increased last week. At one point one-year swaps hit a high of almost 6.5% before edging back down slightly. No single economic event seemed to cause the increases, but my hunch is that they may have been linked to the news that Barclays needed a #314m overnight loan from the ...
ANALYSIS: Impact on US sub-prime credit crunch having on UK brokers?
Sep 03, 2007 ... Brokers will have to tread carefully and work together with packagers and lenders to get through the current market conditions, say our experts Barry Meeks is managing director of Pink Home Loans The repercussions of the US sub-prime market crash are being felt on ...
ANALYSIS: Let Labour swim in its own snake oil.
Sep 03, 2007 ... If the Home Information Pack was an animal, you'd have to put it down. The poor thing is in such obvious distress. And although we couldn't possibly countenance euthanasia when it comes to human suffering, animals are a different ball game. But then, the HIP is a beast of a completely ...
ANALYSIS: Front-end plans need back-end IT.
Sep 03, 2007 ... A booming economy, rising house prices and low arrears spell dull times for people in mortgage servicing. But as rates and arrears have risen those responsible for managing the #1trillion of existing mortgages have to work harder. By mortgage servicing I mean the work ...
ANALYSIS: Buy-to-let curbs will take toll on landlords.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The past few weeks have been tough for the sub-prime market and, you might think, for the mortgage sector as a whole given the recent turbulence in the stock markets. But it seems there is still no sign of a slowdown, if the latest figures from the British Bankers' Association ...
ANALYSIS: Old HIP searches could end in client punch-ups.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Credit where it's due, the anti-Home Information Pack protestors are proving to be excellent tacticians. The recent hullabaloo sparked by anxiety that major lenders including HSBC and Barclays will not accept personal local searches for HIPs is a prime example. ...
ANALYSIS: Clients will lose out if mutuals wither away.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The loss of another society brings up the question of how long mutuals will survive, because it would be a shame if they died out. The recent takeover of Portman by Nationwide saw the movement lose another member. And with the likes of Alliance & Leicester, Bradford ...
ANALYSIS: Sub-prime chaos seeps down to public.
Sep 03, 2007 ... As I write this column the sun is blazing onto my patio for the third day in a row - surely a first for this summer. And given we're all enjoying the weather, perhaps it is the least appropriate time to talk about clouds. But it seems that the old adage every cloud has a ...
ANALYSIS: Time to prospect the online gold mine.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The idea of scribbling down a message of national importance, attaching it to the leg of a pigeon and hoping the bird will fly hundreds of miles and deliver it in good time is ridiculous. In today's world, carrier pigeons seem like something out of the Dark Ages and yet the ...
ANALYSIS: BuildStore helps brokers sell its deals.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Regular readers will know that I often encourage product providers to help their distributors sell particular products and extol the virtues of those that do. The reason many firms don't do this is that it is often difficult to do a cost-benefit analysis for such activities ...
ANALYSIS: Nationwide merger will create a stronger lender.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Last week another name disappeared from the mutual sector as Portman became part of Nationwide. But this isn't yet another tale of a minnow being swallowed by a bigger society. The merger of the UK's largest society with the progressive Portman should create a ...
ANALYSIS: Bank of mum and dad can only take us so far.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The recent news that parents on average are paying #21,314 to help their children get on the property ladder should not be earth- shattering for the industry. Neither should it come as too much of a surprise that first-time buyers are having to find bigger deposits to get on ...
ANALYSIS: Time for brokers to spread their wings.
Sep 03, 2007 ... As the ripples from the US sub-prime meltdown spread across the globe, speculation is rife about whether we will follow in the US example and see sub-prime lenders going under. Speculation has intensified over the past few weeks as an increasing number of lenders have pulled their sub- ...
ANALYSIS: Scrapping regulation is not feasible.
Sep 03, 2007 ... I have read with interest the recent proposals by the Conservative Party's Economic Competitiveness Policy Group relating to the mortgage market and regulation. The group has proposed a number of changes and the ones of interest to brokers are the scrapping of Home Information Packs and ...
ANALYSIS: Move fairness to the top of your agenda.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Treating Customers Fairly is still firmly on the Financial Services Authority's agenda and those companies that are not well on the way to embracing it are in for a shock. The implementation of TCF is one of the regulator's top objectives and for the mortgage industry, this is ...
ANALYSIS: Key indicators for the base rate's future.
Sep 03, 2007 ... Events in the US sub-prime sector have made their mark on the mortgage market here, affecting lenders' product designs and borrowers' appetites. The base rate increases seen over the past year have also hit the market, which is now subject to differing market forces than those ...
ANALYSIS: Offshore clients offer fresh revenue.
Sep 03, 2007 ... A major issue for brokers in these uncertain times is how to generate additional income. The solution is often in an area that many of them have ignored because of a lack of knowledge or understanding. Despite recent problems, internationally our property market is considered ...
ANALYSIS: Give clients a reason to come back.
Sep 03, 2007 ... The appalling weather we have experienced this summer and the disruption caused to thousands as floods swept through their homes is a salutary reminder of what matters most to clients - their families, their homes, their livelihoods and their health. If someone has a flooded ...
ANALYSIS: What to look for with impaired rates.
Sep 03, 2007 ... In the past, providers of equity release products had varying views about providing impaired rates. Many were concerned by the fact that clients' life expectancies could change over a short period of time because of medical advancements, which could skew their calculations and assumptions ....
ANALYSIS: Time to get our heads out of the sand.
Sep 03, 2007 ... A study by Eurocare has found that Britain has among the worst five- year cancer survival rates of any country in Europe. Only the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland and Denmark fare worse. Eurocare compiled the statistics by studying the outcome of 2.7 million cancer cases ...
LETTER: Lenders' online offerings are not serving consumers well.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 03, 2007 ... From Peter Ballard Regarding Simon Nixon's comments about online purchasing in Mortgage Strategy last week, we conducted research earlier this year and found that customers have the same appetite for arranging mortgages online as many other products. The bottom line is that ...
LETTER: HIP providers' add to confusion surrounding initiative.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 03, 2007 ... From Danny Lovey The fiasco over Home Information Packs has been brought about not only by the government not listening but also the arrogance of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers and its spokesmen Mike Ockenden and Paul Broadhead. Local authority ...
LETTER: Brokers should think about offering clients secured loans.(Letter to the editor)
Sep 03, 2007 ... From Dave Rogers I was dismissive of secured loans until recently, so what has made me look more closely at them? With rates rising it is problematic to suggest capital-raising remortgages. Also, the fashion for keeping published rates down by charging absurd fees ...