Advisers fear relations with lenders will worsen

Brokers believe relations between themselves and mortgage lenders will become increasingly frayed in the coming months and years, according to Leadbay.
At an event for brokers hosted by Leadbay, they also said many of them are considering changing their business models to a fee-charging structure as lenders move away from dealing directly with intermediaries.
Those present at [...]

Split advice and sales to boost trust, consumers say

A new report from the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) suggests that consumer trust in financial services institutions could be dramatically increased if there was a clearer demarcation between financial sales and advice.
Research conducted on AIFA’s behalf by YouGov found that 8 in 10 people believe that knowing whether you are being sold a product [...]

Abbey cuts rates and offers deals up to £5m

From 1 August, Abbey is reducing the rates on its two and three-year fixed rate and tracker deals by up to 0.15%. In the core 75% LTV range, two year fixes now start at 6.19% and three-year fixes, 6.29% – both with £995 fee.
Abbey has also cut rates on its broker special at 75% LTV, [...]

Rents begin to stabilise

Buy-to-let yields remained stable at 6.4% for the second consecutive month in June, according to Paragon Mortgages’ latest Buy-to-Let Index.
Average UK rents, which had been rising rapidly, have stabilised just short of £1,000 a month, and remain 9.3% higher than a year ago.
Regions achieving the highest yields in June were Wales (7.6%), the North (7.4%) [...]

Swap rates providing glimmer of hope?

Moneyfacts.co.uk is cliaming there is a “faint glimmer of hope” that the fixed rate mortgage market is returning to some sort of normality. It says that new mortgage borrowers are now finally benefiting from this, as lenders pass on a string of welcome interest rate cuts on their popular fixed rate deals.
Darren Cook from Moneyfacts.co.uk, [...]

1300 to go from the Rock

Northern Rock’s collective consultation with Unite the union and other employee representatives has concluded, with expected job losses to total 1300.
The workforce is currently being informed of which jobs are at risk of redundancy under the company’s restructuring plan. Those staff at risk have entered the individual consultation process, which is expected to last up [...]

LVBS fined £840,000 by FSA over PPI

The FSA has fined Liverpool Victoria Banking Services Limited (LVBS) £840,000 for “serious failings” in the sale of single premium Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
The penalty was imposed for failings in relation to PPI offered to customers who telephoned LVBS seeking unsecured personal loans between 14 January 2005 and 8 August 2007.
In 97 sales calls reviewed, [...]

L&G sees Britons stopping spending

In its first-ever long-term MoneyMood Survey, stretching from January 2005 to June 2008 and covering over 30,000 adults, Legal & General reveals an unpleasant landscape for many.
The percentage of people whose earnings exceed the cost of bills and debts has fallen from 59% of those questioned to 57% while the figures for married couples covering [...]

Profits up at Provident Financial

Doorstep lender Provident Financial has reported a 34% increase in first-half profits.
The number of customers rose by 7%.
Provident recorded pretax profit of £51.3 million in the six months to end-June as sales grew 11% to £324 million.
Peter Crook, chief executive of Provident Financial, said: “I am pleased to report a strong set of half-year results. [...]

AMI unveils business diversification roadshow timetable

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has issued further information on its planned series of Business Diversification Road Shows.
Chris Cummings, director general of AMI, said: “We recently announced that AMI would be holding a series of seminars around the country in order to provide help to those Mortgage Intermediaries who want to look at ways [...]