Latest News
Santander Raises the LTV on First-time Buyer Mortgages
One of the largest banks in Great Britain, a Spanish-based Santander, formerly known as Abbey, announced that it will increase the maximum loan-to-value ratio available to the first-time buyers. In an effort to boost activity in the first?time buyer mortgages market, Santander will raise the maximum LTV for those buying new apartments and new... Read more
UK Mortgage Lending Falls 10% in November
The latest figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders on December 17th showed that UK mortgage lending declined by 10% in November, which fact raised concerns supported by the report on UK housing market environment for 2010 earlier published by the Bank of England. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), total lending of... Read more
Landlord’s Insurance+ Launched by HomeLet This Week
On Monday, December 14th, HomeLet – an insurance firm that has been specialising in the development of insurance products for landlords, tenants, estate and letting agents since the birth of buy to let – announced launch of its long-awaited HomeLet Landlord's Insurance+, one of the most comprehensive insurance policies for landlords to... Read more
UK Remortgages Held Back by Market Conditions
As we have already reported, the figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders suggest that the number of mortgage loans taken out by UK borrowers in October 2009 hit the 2-year high as the activity on the British property market has been vigorous.rnAccording to the CML data, an average of 55,000 mortgages were granted to borrowers for home... Read more
Credit Rating Agencies Cause Borrowers to Miss Out Mortgage Deals
A recent news article published by The Times suggests that despite the efforts made by UK building societies and banks that are constantly reducing mortgage interest rates trying to meet their lending targets by the end of 2009, many borrowers are still unable to get approved for mortgages as credit reference agencies oftentimes provide lenders... Read more
LV= Home Insurance Warns Against Online Shopping
According to the latest research carried out by LV= Insurance, a registered trademark of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited, UK citizens will spend approximately £132 million buying counterfeit Christmas presents online this winter. The survey was performed by Opinium Research on behalf of LV= Insurance among 2308 UK residents aged 18... Read more
New Offset Mortgage Deal Launched by First Direct
According to the news article published on the official web site of First Direct on November 30th, the lender announced launch of a new competitive offset tracker mortgage deal at a pay rate of 2.08% above the base rate, or 2.58%.Being one of the most attractive tracker deals on the UK market at the moment, the mortgage offer allows for 65% LTV... Read more
Merger Between Yorkshire and Chelsea Agreed
According to Mr. Cornish, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, merger talks that were earlier held between his building society and Chelsea were successful as Yorkshire Building Society has agreed to merge with Chelsea. The merger will potentially result in mass job cuts (it is still unclear how many of 3,000 combined employees will be... Read more
UK Landlords and Letting Agents Face Increases in TDS Subscription Costs
The latest statement by TDS – the Dispute Service, a UK non-profit organisation set up to resolve complaints and disputes between agents, landlords and tenants – suggests that the cost of subscription is expected to increase severely. The news caused concern for UK letting agents and residential landlords as the increase in subscription cost... Read more
Leading UK Mortgage Lenders Might Merge Soon
Two largest British building societies – Yorkshire, which takes the 2nd position in the UK and Chelsea, which takes the 5th place, recently announced that they are currently holding negotiations about possible merger. Should the deal be agreed, a powerful financial organisation specialising in mortgage lending and savings accounts will be... Read more