Mortgage lending rises to £17.8bn in April

Gross mortgage lending reached £17.8bn in April, an increase of £1.2bn since March, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). Despite the monthly increase, April’s figure marks a year-on-year decrease of 6.3%. Annual declines were also recorded in the number of mortgages approved for house purchase and equity release.
Although mortgage approvals for house purchase increased [...]

Lenders ‘re-thinking’ dual-pricing stance

Mortgage lenders that have opted to withdraw their intermediary ranges are beginning to change their mind, according to Positive Solutions. Paul Rignell, mortgage manager at the firm, says some lenders are re-thinking the long-term benefits of dual pricing and could start to change their attitudes towards the intermediary market.
“Lenders have seized the opportunity to take [...]

Debts.co.uk acquires Relax Finance for £3m

Consumer debt solutions provider Debts.co.uk has acquired Relax Finance, including Relax Mortgages, for £3m.
It is also being proposed that Debts.co.uk will change its name to the Relax Group.
The acquisition consisted of £1.2m in cash, £1.5m by the issue of 3,333,333 new ordinary shares in the company to the vendors, and £300,000 in the form of [...]

No call for direct products on system says Trigold

Trigold has today announced that it has no plans to list direct to lender products on its mortgage sourcing system.
The sourcing provider says that it has undertaken an exhaustive consultation with a variety of customers and there is no pressure from either intermediaries or the regulator to list these deals especially in light of the [...]

Remortgages to represent over half the market

Remortgaging will account for 51% of all business over the next two months, according to a survey of intermediaries by the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA).
Based on IMLA’s latest survey of intermediaries, almost half (49%) of all mortgage cases introduced last month were remortgages – an increase from 48% at the time of the previous [...]

Lord Adair Turner set to be new FSA chairman

Chancellor Alistair Darling is set to appoint Lord Adair Turner as the new FSA chairman, succeeding Sir Callum McCarthy who steps down in September. Reports over the weekend suggest Lord Turner is the Treasury’s preferred candidate and is just days away accepting the part-time role.
Lord Turner is a former CBI director general and was once [...]

National Association of Estate Agents say buyers “wait and see”

National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) members have reported that the picture is still very regional but elements of the market are stabilising.
Members reported stability in the sales agreed, the number of viewings before a sale is secured and the average difference between asking and sales price.
Chris Brown, NAEA president, said: “The figures from the [...]

Businesses losing out from staff moving home

According to Moveme.com, employees moving home, either renting or buying, are costing UK businesses £1.5 billion every year with 17 million days lost as employees spend time co-ordinating their move process, during office hours.
When moving home, the lengthy and costly process of arranging everything from surveys to removal companies, along with having to wait in [...]

Base claims reasons to be cheerful

Base Commercial Mortgages says there are good reasons for commercial mortgage brokers to remain optimistic and that there is still plenty of good quality business to be done.
Paul Marland, sales and marketing director at Base, said: “The news is full of stories about rising fuel and commodity prices and falling consumer confidence, which is creating [...]

AIFA goes green

The Association Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) has published its green policy. AIFA believes that everyone, including trade bodies, should be socially responsible and be aware of their environmental role. It is a guiding principle set out in AIFA’s Manifesto for Advice that good firms recognise their environmental responsibilities.
Around one third of the energy consumed in [...]