This week’s top five stories:
1) Budget 2014: No change to Stamp Duty tiers but clampdown on SDLT avoidance
Despite hopes and predictions the Chancellor could review the slab nature of Stamp Duty Land Tax, the widely criticised tax remains for another year.
2) Mortgage borrowers repeatedly mis-sold valuation reports – surveyor
Mortgage applicants are facing a misselling issue because they pay for the valuation, but are often unclear that they don’t actually own the report, the director of Metropolis Surveyors has warned.
3) Budget 2014: Chancellor launches £150m self-build fund
Chancellor George Osborne has announced a new fund for self-build homes and pledged more money to support small building firms.
4) Budget 2014: the essential at-a-glance guide
This year’s Budget was for the ‘makers, the doers and the savers’ said the Chancellor, although it was the tax cuts on beer and bingo that caused the Twitter furore last night.
5) Clydesdale raises interest-only LTV to 75% exclusively for broker channel
Clydesdale Bank has increased its interest-only loan-to-value to 75% for loans which use the sale of the property or a cash lump sum as an exit strategy.
Here are some stories you may have missed:
Sesame Bankhall suffers ‘disappointing’ £19m loss
Friends Life has reported a “disappointing” £19m loss for Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG) in 2013.
NatWest to go MMR compliant on April 15
NatWest Intermediary Solutions is the latest lender to reveal its Mortgage Market Review plans with the lender pulling out of three areas of the market as part of its changes.
Insurance broker fined for anti-bribery and corruption failings
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Besso Limited £315,000 for a failure to take reasonable care to establish and maintain effective systems and controls for countering the risks of bribery and corruption.
Nottingham Building Society to only accept MMR-compliant cases
Nottingham Building Society will only accept Mortgage Market Review compliant cases from today (Tuesday 17 March) as the lender refreshes its systems to meet the new regulations.
Exclusive: Landlord trust shaken on lifetime tracker rates – NLA
Landlords are still fixated on two-year fixed rate deals because the Bank of Ireland and West Bromwich tracker lifetime rate hikes have undermined trust in tracker rates, said a landlord trade body.
