Nationwide figures don’t tell whole story, says NAEA

The National Association of Estate Agents says Nationwide’s house price index does not portray regional variations.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, says falling house prices are not being seen across the UK and some areas are showing signs of stability.
Bolton King says: “The national sales figures do not tell the whole story. We [...]

Paradigm gives members HSBLite access

Paradigm Mortgage Services is to offer all members access to the new Home Buyer System Lite (HBSLite) sourcing system.
The HBSLite system has been launched as a slimmed down version of the full Home Buyer System. It allows advisers to source not just all intermediary mortgages but also direct to lender products.
The system also delivers full [...]

Compliance guru Warren launches consultancy

Industry compliance veteran Bill Warren, has launched a new consultancy firm providing compliance support for financial services firms to ensure they meet the necessary regulatory standards.
Bill Warren Compliance LLP has been established to provide personal compliance advice to firms providing a full compliance health check and providing recommendations to ensure compliance standards are met by [...]

London Scottish Bank gets credit facility for debt purchase business

London Scottish Bank’s subsidiary Robinson Way has entered into an agreement for a new medium term revolving credit facility.
The facility is for an amount of up to £85 million and will be used principally to support the growth of Robinson Way’s debt purchase business.
The agreement is the first major step in LSB’s plan to recapitalise [...]

Ex-CBI chief to be new FSA chairman

Lord Adair Turner has been appointed by the Chancellor as chairman of the FSA for a five-year period. He will take up his appointment in September when the current incumbent, Sir Callum McCarthy, steps down.
Jonathan Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell, currently is chairman to the Economic and Social Research Council. He is also currently [...]

IFA complaints fall as bank cases soar

Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service about IFAs have plummeted from 12 per cent of total cases in 2006/07 to just 4 per cent in 2007/08 while bank complaints rocketed.
The FOS annual review says this is linked to a sharp decrease in complaints about mortgage endowments, which fell by 70 per cent from 46,134 to [...]

First National KFI available on EDGE

EDGE V2 is now live, with fully integrated KFI functionality, with First National. A full, lender-verified KFI is now available within EDGE V2 across First National’s entire range.
Harry Landy, managing director of EDGE V2, said: “As one of the major players in today’s specialist market, integrating with First National has been a top priority and [...]

The Personal Finance Society offers Exweb access to PEER advisers

The Personal Finance Society (PFS) has announced a new partnership with 1st – The Exchange, giving members of the Society’s PEER (Promoting Excellence in Equity Release) initiative free access to the Exweb online equity release service.
Advisers who join the PEER group will have instant free access to the equity release service via the PFS website.
Sue [...]

House prices fall a further 2.5%

House prices fell by 2.5% in May, according to the Nationwide.
The UK’s largest building society said that prices are 4.4% lower than this time last year, but remain 5% higher than two years ago.
However, it did note that borrowers are better placed to weather the storm than in the 1990s and that tighter credit conditions [...]