Buy to Let cash cow dries up

The days of buy-to-let investment being seen as a get-rich-quick route are over.
This warning from buy to let experts comes in the wake of Inside Track Seminars going into administration last week. Jeremy French, managing director of Vantis, and Glyn Mummery, a director at Vantis, have been appointed as joint administrators.
The firm lured investors with [...]

John Charcol heads towards a refinance

John Charcol could be on the verge of a major refinance, with funding likely to come from current shareholders.
The brokerage had hoped it would be sold when a number of investors expressed an interest in it at the start of the year. At the time, rumours abounded that the firm would fetch £50m.
But it appears [...]

Dual pricing crippling brokers

Brokers are accusing big lenders of operating a cartel as a return to dual pricing sees better deals available on the high street.
Mortgage Strategy has been inundated with calls and letters from brokers claiming they are seeing direct- to-consumer deals that are better than those available through intermediary channels.
Danny Lovey, proprietor of The Mortgage Practitioner, [...]

Lloyds TSB in no rights issue rush

Lloyds TSB has moved to reassure the market that it has robust capital ratios and a strong liquidity and funding position in its Interim Management Statement issued today.
The message from the bank suggests it is no rush to follow its rivals, Royal Bank of Scotland Group and HBOS, in launching a rights issue.
It says the [...]

Equity release still attractive despite house price falls

Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP), the equity release industry body, says people need to be reassured that they can still use equity release plans despite falling house prices. SHIP says customers should not abandon plans to release equity purely because the value of their property is declining as its members offer guarantees to keep consumers [...]

FSA bosses keep jobs despite Northern Rock failures

The FSA has not sacked a single member of staff over the failed supervision of Northern Rock it was revealed today. Speaking to the Treasury Select Committee in Westminster, FSA chief executive, Hector Sants also revealed that staff bonuses were not cut despite the major failings of the regulator.
Sir Callum McCarthy, chairman of the FSA, [...]

Trigold & Equifax offer broker credit rating discount

Trigold and Equifax have extended their proposition for brokers with the launch of an exclusive discount on the Equifax Credit Rating for Trigold users to pass on to their clients.
Normally £14.95, clients of Trigold users will now have access to the Equifax Credit Rating for £8.25 providing them with an indication into their credit information [...]

Landlords urged to use green tax break

The National Landlords Association (NLA) has urged private residential landlords to use the Landlord’s Energy Saving Allowance (LESA). The LESA is a tax break allowing landlords to claim on their tax return against the cost of buying and installing energy saving items.
Landlords are able to claim a maximum of £1,500 per property against the cost [...]

Exclusive forum launched for Paradigm members

Paradigm Mortgage Services has launched a new interactive forum exclusively available for its membership.
The forum itself will be hosted on the Paradigm website and will be split into various sector sections for ease of use. Paradigm member firms will be able to post comments, questions and queries on the site where they can receive instant [...]

Diamond directors missing in Brazil

Alan Kempson and Nigel Hodges, directors of Diamond Lifestyle Holdings, a Cambridgeshire-based finance company, are missing following a suspected plane crash in Brazil.
They set out on a short plane journey on Friday. It is believed they were looking at possible areas for property development.
A search party has been searching a 25-mile stretch of coastline for [...]