Contents David fi ghting a good fi ght with Goliath
This month Mortgage Introducer has taken the mortgage market back to its roots. You. The brokers around the country. It’s all too easy to assume that the market is defi ned by
high level house price statistics, gross lending fi gures and bank base rate but aggregates, averages and centralised policy conceal a plethora of variation. It’s important to understand national trends, which is why
Royal Bank of Scotland’s economist, Fionnuala Earley, will be contributing a regular column starting this month on page 13
where she analyses economic whys and wherefores. But it’s equally important to understand local contexts within the national trends. In an effort to get a better understanding of what’s going on we asked brokers from Kirkaldy to Bath via Northern Ireland what their experiences have been so far this year (pages 24 -31). Unsurprisingly it was a tale of several cities with brokers in Scotland seeing less activity than those in the South East of England. Cash buyers have held up the London market while buy-to-let landlords have felt more confi dent investing in so-called ‘solid’ property markets. More unex- pected was what brokers across the country had in common though. Everyone appears to be positive about this year. Why? Because the demand is there. Brokers on the front line UK-wide agree that the only spanner in the works is the supply of money. Lenders still won’t lend. The good news is that brokers, being an entrepreneurial bunch, are fi nding
ways to help their clients despite lender reluctance. The large lenders may still pull the puppet strings for the vast majority of mortgages but local brokers are forging stronger relationships with local building societies that underwrite their loans with a bit of human discernment. Smaller specialist lenders including Aldermore, Precise Mortgages, Kensington, iGroup and Platform are doing deals around the edges while ING and Bank of China seem to be picking up pace too. Last month saw Skipton launch a 95% loan to value product while Northern
Rock put out a 90% deal. These may be small steps but it shows willing from the edges of the market to put pressure on competition. With interest rates looking likely to rise in the coming months, remortgaging should also pick up. All in all there is business to be done and we’re happy to report that brokers north, south, east and west are putting their backs into doing it.
Sarah Davidson, Deputy Editor Issue 32 March 2011 Editor
Nia Williams, 0207 490 0693
Nia@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Deputy Editor
Sarah Davidson, 020 7490 1365
Sarah@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Publisher
Robyn Hall, 0207 490 0588
Robyn@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Advertising Manager Matt Bond, 020 7490 0588
Matt@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Subscriptions Andrew Goldsmith, 0207 490 0622
Andrew@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Head of Production
Melanie Jones, 020 8290 4999
melanie@mortgageintroducer.com
The text and cover papers used in this publication are sourced from sustainable forest products and are fully recyclable.
Printed in England by
The Magazine Printing Company. Distributed by The DM Print & Mail Company
4 News Review 6 Property News Review 8 Lending News Review 10 Buy-to-let News Review
12 Technology News Review 13 Economics News Review 14 Product News Review 15 Packaging News Review 16 Protection News Review 17 General Insurance News Review 18 Equity Release News Review 19 Short Term Finance News Review 20 Specialist Prime News Review 21 Questions from Hell All your regulatory queries answered 22 The bigger issue Vote in our poll and see what the experts think 24 State of the nation A snapshot of mortgage businesses around the UK 32 The Interview
MI talks to Brightstar Financial’s Rob Jupp 36 The Power Hour
Industry experts discuss what can be done to boost equity release 42 Interest only The threat hanging over interest only loans 44 Near prime
This is prime time for near prime 46 House prices
What has happened over the past month 48 Commercial News Review 50 Full protection needed The NACFB reiterates the importance of PI cover
54 Hall of Fame
Who is infamous this month? ADVICE TO READERS
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Information carried in Mortgage Introducer is checked for accuracy, but we recommend that you make enquiries and, if necessary, take legal advice before entering into any transactions. Any views or opinions expressed in this magazine are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Publishing Group Ltd. All rights reserved in respect of all articles, drawings, photographs etc published in Mortgage Introducer anywhere in the world. Reproduction or imitations of these are expressly forbidden without permission of the publishers. Editorial contribu- tions requiring an answer should be accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope. No responsibility can be taken for contributions lost or damaged in the post. Conditions of sale and supply: this periodical is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it shall not without the prior written consent of the publishers be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or in any unauthorised cover by way of trade or affi xed to any advertis- ing, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. All advertising is subject to the terms of our current rate card.
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