(In order) The five best read stories last week:
Lloyds announces more interest-only changes effective tomorrow
Interest-only clampdown leaves Accord firefighting
Del Boy wannabe in £1m mortgage scam
Head to Head: Why one lender chose broker distribution, the other direct-only
ASA raps Baker Coop for “misleading” mortgage broker job ad
Making & breaking ties
In this week’s head to head, mutuals Teachers and Loughborough explain the routes they have taken in the past year, with one launching to brokers as the other chose to cut its intermediary ties.
Under pressure
On Valentine’s Day, housing experts called on the government to extend its Stamp Duty concession for first-time buyers (FTBs).
Del Boy
On the same day, a conman who called himself Del Boy and ran a £1m mortgage scam from a lock-up garage pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to two charges of obtaining £231,000 by deception.
Clampdown
Lloyds Banking Group bought changes to its interest-only repayment vehicles, after Santander slashed its interest-only Loan-to-Value (LTV) from 75% to 50% last week.
Mortgage networks
MS reporter Simret Samra spoke to L&G’s Duncan Crocker about key broker business strategy, the future for mortgage networks and how to ride the consolidation wave.
Misleading
On Wednesday, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled a job advert, searching for a trainee mortgage adviser on recruitment website Baker Coop was “misleading.”
Firefighting
Accord, the intermediary arm of Yorkshire Building Society had to delay the launch of its 75% and 85% LTV range until next Monday following an uplift in applications, a move it said was partly the result of the latest crackdown on interest-only criteria.
Telling porkies
On Friday, Labour’s shadow housing minister Jack Dromey accused David Cameron and Grant Shapps of telling the House of Commons private rents in the UK have been falling.
And finally…top tweets
Stuart Gregory @Mortgage_Stu
If you are one of my clients I will fight tooth and nail to ensure you can proceed with your plans. My dentist loves me.
Lea Karasavvas @Mortgage_Mind
Just spent 2 hours with a client checking portability options with a lender that doesn’t use brokers. That’s how we roll guys.
Jeremy Leaf @jeremyleaf
Should Govt expect downsizers to help solve housing shortage when not doing enough to increase supply themselves?
Elizabeth Windsor @Queen_UK
Text from the Pope: “You are the Queen, I am the Pope, I know you don’t fancy me but I still live in hope”. Not replying.
Sir Mervyn King @SirMervynKing
As it’s Valentines day, my ninth consecutive letter to George Osborne was sent with THREE kisses and a photo of me in a thong.
