This week’s top five stories:
Scots abolish slab Stamp Duty tax; Properties worth over £250k slammed with 10% tax
Homebuyers in Scotland purchasing property worth over £250,000 will face a soaring tax bill from April next year as Stamp Duty is abolished in favour of a Scottish Levy called the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.
Know Your BDM: Paul MacDuff, NatWest
Mortgage Solutions’ Know Your BDM series gives brokers the chance to get to know their local business development managers a little better.
Regulation changes create buy-to-let opportunity – Nationwide
The impact of the Mortgage Market Review and other restrictions on residential lending have proved a boon to buy-to-let lenders, Nationwide’s Gary Salter has said.
Countrywide warns buy-to-let borrowers ‘could need 40% deposit’ under PRA stress test
Buy-to-let borrowers could require a 40% deposit to secure a property in London and the South East if new rules hit the market, research from Countrywide has found.
Lenders have been ‘overzealous’ on lending into retirement – Kensington
Lenders have been ‘overzealous’ in restricting lending into retirement, Kensington Mortgages chief executive Keith Street has said.
..and some stories you may have missed this week
Firms limit corporate entertainment spend as FCA considers crackdown
Asset managers have revealed the hard limits they are imposing on entertainment budgets ahead of a potential FCA ban on corporate hospitality
Mortgage availability falls ‘significantly’ in Q3 – BoE
The availability of mortgage finance ‘fell significantly’ over the summer, according to the Bank of England’s latest credit conditions survey.
Vince Cable criticises Help to Buy scheme
Business secretary Vince Cable has criticised the government’s Help to Buy scheme, saying the flagship policy has simply pushed up house prices.
Barclays targets buy-to-let remortgage sector with fee-free loans
Barclays is set to extend its Switch and Save feature to its buy to let range and will launch a range of fixed buy-to-let rates with no application fees tomorrow.
Ebola could impact new life insurance policies – Payingtoomuch
Payingtoomuch has warned that the Ebola Virus could adversely impact new life insurance policies if the virus became more easily transmitted.
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