Coventry makes changes to intermediary range

Coventry Intermediaries is to make changes to its mortgage range from Friday 2 May it was announced today. Among Coventry’s main residential range, trackers with a 25% deposit are priced at 6.25%, while those lending 90% LTV are available for 6.45%.
Five-year fixed rates with a 75% LTV are available from 6.15%, while 90% LTV products [...]

FSA confusion over TCF and direct deals

The FSA appears to be uncertain about the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) implications of mortgage brokers no longer being able to access the best deals in the marketplace. Numerous brokers have contacted IFAonline.co.uk because of confusion over regulatory requirements cause by lenders withdrawing from the intermediary market.
As many lenders have either withdrawn their intermediary ranges [...]

House prices may need to fall 30%

A Monetary Policy Committee member has warned house prices may need to fall 30% to restore a more sustainable house price-to-earnings ratio.
Prof David Blanchflower issued the warning last night during a speech at the Royal Society in Edinburgh. Blanchflower says in his speech that property in Britain is overpriced by 30%.
He warns that unless interest [...]

Banks and FSA disagree over advice

The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) believes that new proposals from the FSA for providing financial advice could prove costly for customers.
The BBA disagrees with the FSA’s view, and believes that any proposals to curtail or ban tied advice, where a bank advises only on the range of products it provides, would force customers to choose [...]

More property sales are falling through

Property sellers face a one in two chance of their sale falling through, according to research from home purchase company Quickmovenow.com.
Its newly released ‘Fall Through Index’ (FTI) shows that fall-through rates have doubled since their records began in 2006.
Hywel Luke, managing director, Quickmovenow.com said: “This gives us a real indication of how market conditions are [...]

Safe Home Income Plans say equity release more resilient than mainstream market

SHIP (Safe Home Income Plans) has published equity release business results for the first quarter of this year.
Overall sales volumes are slightly down, but SHIP believes this to be only a short term slip caused by the initial shock to consumers of the credit crunch. After the downturn in demand late last year, reflected in [...]

Cable backs King over inflation measurement

Following comments from the Governor of the Bank of England that he would like to see house prices included in the CPI measure of inflation, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable has supported the idea.
Mervyn King told a Commons select committee that a change in how CPI was measured would be “desirable”, adding, “I would [...]

First annual fall in house prices

UK House prices have recorded their first annual fall for 12 years, according to the Nationwide.
In its monthly report, the UK’s largest building society said prices fell by 1.1% in April, the sixth monthly decline in a row, and were down 1% from the levels seen in April 2007.
It cited “poor affordability and tighter financial [...]

Bridging lender trade association to launch

Bridging lenders are set to launch the Association of Short Term Lenders, a self-regulatory trade association with its own code of conduct.
The association will be headed up by Adrian Bloomfield, who will act as its chief executive. Bloomfield has had over 30 years experience in the financial services and currently works as a mortgage and [...]

Swift cuts broker panel and introduces quotas

Swift is no longer accepting business from new brokers in the secured loan market, and instead will deal with what is thought to be 16 master brokers who will each have monthly quotas.
John Webster, chief executive officer, Swift, says: “We have now reduced our intermediary panel to a small group of intermediaries. We have given [...]