For headlines alone this has been a standout year.
We saw an exciting budget for the first time in a while with the launch of the Help to Buy scheme, which arguably turned the fortunes of our readers and the mortgage advice marketplace on its head. Lenders rolled up their sleeves to work through the changes enshrined in the Mortgage Market Review and Lloyds became the second lender to launch fees based on quality.
And 2013 has seen its fair share of crisis too. Mortgage lenders have been their own worst enemies from the Co-op’s recapitalisation to finding itself at the centre of lurid drug-fuelled scandal, to Libor-rigging, slow payments of PPI compensation and rising consumer complaints on service. Bank of Ireland will fight it out in court to prove the legitimacy of its tracker rate changes and the regulator tried for the first time to stamp out the hard-nosed sales culture raging in some of our high street banks.
We will all also watch with interest as lenders launch independent advice services in-house and try to compete with a seasoned, independent advice market.
But the biggest change for our readers is that finally, the stars have aligned handing many a chance to finally celebrate the year-end with a sense of optimism about what’s around the corner.
Closer to home, Mortgage Solutions‘ features editor and senior reporter Adam Williams won the trade newcomer of the year award at the Santander Media Awards with other nominations sfor the rest of the team at the Unbiased awards in February next year.
It’s with sadness I have to announce we are losing senior reporter Julia Rampen to another Incisive publication, Investment Week. A huge thank you to Julia for her boundless energy, professionalism and contribution to the title.
However, I am also delighted to announce ex-Mortgage Introducer journalist Samantha Cordon will be joining Mortgage Solutions in January.
Thanks for all the visits, comments and tweets in 2013.
That’s enough words from me.
Happy new year and see you in 2014.
