Mortgage News

From today, Yorkshire Building Society is reducing the rates on many of its fixed rate mortgages by up to 0.50% and launching a new low fixed rate deal with a higher fee.

June’s mortgage lending, rising by £3.8 billion, was weaker than in May. There was again a record low number of house purchase approvals, though levels of remortgaging were similar to the previous month, according to figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA).

"Today's announcement by Checkmate Mortgages that it has obtained sufficient investment backing to allow it to launch as a new mortgage lender early next year is a superb achievement by Stephen Knight and his small team in this market.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has set out its approach for tackling mortgage fraud, as part of the UK's wider response to the threat.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders' efforts to tackle mortgage fraud have been recognised by the Financial Services Authority today, in a public letter which recognises the priority that the industry has given to fraud issues even in the current challenging market conditions.

Woolwich is cutting rates on its fixed rate mortgages by as much as 0.32 percentage points as lower SWAP rates continue to benefit the fixed rate market.

The Mortgage Works has launched a new large loans proposition enabling intermediaries to apply for loans of up to £5million for their clients.

Halifax, the UK's largest mortgage lender, announces it is reducing its mortgage rates for the second time in seven days. The new rates are effective from Saturday 19th July.

Second quarter figures from SHIP show that demand for equity release has not been affected by the problems in the UK housing market, comments Just Retirement.

Gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £23.8 billion in June, down 3% from May and 32% from June 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The ifs School of Finance, who offer the industry leading Certificate in Regulated Equity Release (CeRER), revealed that demand for this qualification has been incredibly strong in recent weeks despite increasing difficulties in the mainstream residential mortgage market.

David Knight, analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments: "Following the latest figures released by SHIP showing the amount of equity release business has risen 14% in Q2 this year Moneyfacts.co.uk can confirm that the number of equity release products available has also risen since the beginning of the year.

Commenting on the rent before buying proposals from the DCLG, Peter Williams, executive director of IMLA, said: "We welcome all positive action from the government to offer support to first time buyers particularly affected by the credit crunch.

"For far too long, the status quo of the mortgage market has been increasing rates and misery for most borrowers. The crunch has seen liquidity in the market all but dry up, but news from Nationwide that they are cutting both tracker and fixed rates will come as a huge relief for all borrowers.

SHIP (Safe Home Income Plans) - the trade body that represents more than 90% of the equity release market in the UK - is pleased to announce that equity release business volumes produced by its members in the second quarter of this year have increased by 14% over volumes in quarter one.