Mortgage News

The CML is introducing new standards for industry professionals who act for lenders on newly-built property transactions.

A third of the UK population in, or nearing retirement, owe a whopping £207 billion in outstanding mortgage debt - averaging at £37,316 per head - reveals a new report from Key Retirement Solutions, the leading independent equity release specialist.

Recent news stories about 100% and 100% plus mortgages are missing the point when it comes to negative equity, says Your Mortgage magazine.

Commenting on the RICS figures, Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said: "The RICS figures show house prices are going down - but this isn't showing the full picture for home owners.

Commenting on Northern Rock’s agreement with Lloyds TSB, Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com said: “This may be good news for some Northern Rock borrowers, but the Lloyds TSB deal will only be offered to a select tier of customers.

"With a sharp rise in the consumer price index last month and the bank predicting that inflation will rise to 3.7%, it is difficult to justify a bank rate cut, given that the MPC's primary job is to control inflation.

It was no surprise that the MPC decided to hold rates at 5% today according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Darren Cook, spokesperson for Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments: "It's about time the thousands of Northern Rock mortgage customers received some encouraging news that allows them to sleep a little better at night.

Lloyds TSB has announced that it has entered into a three year agreement with Northern Rock whereby certain Northern Rock mortgage customers approaching the end of their fixed rate period will be offered the opportunity to switch to a Lloyds TSB mortgage.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlining the range of steps that lenders are taking to minimise the potential problems that may face some borrowers in the wake of the credit crunch.

The credit crunch is so far having less of an impact in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Alliance & Leicester is launching a new range of mortgage products, which will be available via brokers, branches and their call centre from Tuesday 3 June 2008.

The 58,000 mortgage approvals in April are the twelfth successive monthly drop in approvals by UK lenders. The amount of money lent also fell for the twelfth time in a row. Just £8.3 billion was advanced to individuals for buying houses, compared with £16.2 billion a year ago.

Commenting on Bank of England mortgage approvals, Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist said: "The latest weak data on mortgage approvals highlights the continuing problems facing borrowers trying to secure finance to purchase property.

The increase in total net lending to individuals in April (£7.3 billion) was below the increase in March and the previous six-month average, according to latest figures from the Bank of England (BoE).