Review the week on Mortgage Solutions here:
1. 8 things brokers need to know about TSB’s mortgage range
TSB unveiled its widely-anticipated service and product range for brokers this week.
Mortgage Solutions’ senior reporter Hannhah Uttley compiled the key information intermediaries need to know about the new service.
2. Aviva: Sesame would be bust without Friends’ money
Restricted adviser network Sesame would be broke and unable to trade without the continued financial support of its parent company Friends Life, Aviva has said in a note to shareholders ahead of its planned acquisition of the provider.
Aviva made clear it is not part of its strategy to provide the same “open-ended” financial support to Sesame.
3. TSB launches to broker market with service ‘shake-up’ promise
Following its pilot in December, TSB has unveiled its service commitments and product range available through the intermediary channel for the first time.
TSB has recruited 200 people in the past six months to help it achieve its goal of being an industry leader for broker service and ‘shake up’ the broker market.
(and this one was shared 266 times on LinkedIn, a Mortgage Solutions record – ed.)
4. How old is too old to get a new mortgage?
There has been a stream of media stories over recent months about lenders rejecting new mortgage applications from existing borrowers in their 40s or 50s who want to remortgage or move home.
‘Don’t blame us, it’s the MMR rules’, say lenders. ‘There is nothing in the MMR that says you can’t lend to older borrowers’, retort the FCA.
5. Brokers slam Barclays’ offshore call-centre for ‘tick-box mentality’
Mortgage advisers have criticised Barclays’ offshore mortgage processing call-centre in Mumbai, saying consumers and brokers are suffering.
Following the lender’s decision to cap residential Loan to Income multiples at 4.5 for loans of over 80% Loan to Value last week, several brokers expressed frustration in the comment box about the lender’s mortgage processing.
6. Grosvenor House to be mortgaged to fund tycoon’s bail bid
Grosvenor House hotel is to be mortgaged into British hands as part of a deal to raise bail money for current owner Indian billionaire Subrata Roy.
The Park Lane premier hotel, a frequent haunt of mortgage industry professionals celebrating the successes of the sector, will be packaged up along with proceeds from The Plaza and Dream hotels in New York to pay over £1bn in bail.
7. Countrywide £40m expansion plan nets 29 lettings firms
Countrywide invested £40m into the expansion of its lettings business last year adding 29 offices to its operation in a strategy to increase its regional presence.
Last year’s acquisitions included Tucker Gardner, a well-established firm in Cambridgeshire, full service lettings agency Personal Homefinders in Hampshire and the large portfolio of Curtis Bains in Manchester city centre.
8. Ten-year fixes – still undateable?
It was just over ten years ago that David Miles conducted what came to be known as The Miles Report calling for the introduction of more ten year mortgages to help bring financial stability to the UK.
According to comments a few years later, Miles’ report recommended improving the transparency of mortgage pricing and consumer information but there was no political appetite to implement this.
9. Countrywide’s performance reveals mixed mortgage market sentiment
Countrywide’s network of advisers arranged 70,526 mortgages last year, 16% more than 2013 but Q4 house exchanges reflected recent market uncertainties following the Stamp Duty reforms.
In the group’s trading update, quarter 4 mortgage volumes were up 6% to 19,041 year-on-year but house exchanges through its estate agency arm fell 2% to 16,534.
10. To be, or not to be regulated – that is the question
Jonathan Sealey, CEO of bridging lender Hope Capital examines the question, if you have nothing to hide, why wouldn’t you be regulated?
There is a common perception throughout the lending arena that lenders which aren’t regulated are dodgy dealers – lenders avoiding regulation as they want to hide under the radar. Lenders who tend to do shady slightly unethical loans – or why else would they not be regulated?
We wish all our readers a fantastic weekend.
