Contents Creating false competition
July was a funny old month for the mortgage market. Lenders have engaged in what looks like a price war, cutting rates left right and centre to try and grab market share. Abbey for Inter- mediaries has started to hold regular mortgage sales with some remarkably cheap deals on offer for one week only. Other lend- ers have edged up the loan to value curve and there are even signs of slowly loosening criteria. And yet both Santander and Barclays reported fairly substan-
tial drops in gross mortgage lending for the fi rst half of the year last week. HSBC meanwhile reported gross mortgage lending of £6.7bn for the fi rst six
months of 2011, up 35% on the previous year which it said equated to an 11% mar- ket share of new UK residential mortgage lending. That’s some uptick from the 2.5% share of the market it had in 2007. Should intermediaries be worried? Research from the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries and Legal & General
recently found that only 44% of people who want to remortgage this year plan to visit a broker. But yet more research suggests the majority of borrowers still feel fl ummoxed by
the mortgage process and many are not even applying for fear of having the door slammed in their face. Our cover feature this month looks at the array of baffl ing numbers and where
brokers can and should be helping their clients to navigate the mortgage maze. On a related theme it seems that while the base rate remains stuck at rock bot-
tom borrowers just aren’t playing ball in the remortgage market – perhaps another reason for the falling lending at two of our high street’s major players. For a fuller explanation of what the future may hold in this key element of the
market, read reporter Yuan Phoon’s feature on page 46. This month the bigger issue on page 26 looks at whether the tactics used by lend-
ers to help borrowers with little deposit can really attract any volume of business, while I speak to academic Professor Susan Smith from Cambridge University on page 44 about whether the mortgage market is going about fi xing itself in totally the wrong way. The mortgage market is a maze of information. Brokers are there to help clients
navigate. I hope this issue of Mortgage Introducer goes some way to helping you steer your chosen course through.
Sarah Davidson, Editor Editor
Sarah Davidson, 020 7502 8225
Sarah@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Reporter Yuan Phoon, 020 7502 8220
Yuan@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Editorial Director
Nia Williams, 020 7502 8231
Nia@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Issue 37 August 2011 Publisher
Robyn Hall, 020 7502 8229
Robyn@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Associate Publisher
Matt Bond, 020 7502 8227
Matt@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Subscriptions Andrew Goldsmith, 020 7502 8220
Andrew@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
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4 News Review 6 Property News Review 8 Lending News Review 10 Buy-to-let News Review 11 Housing News Review 12 Product News Review 14 Equity Release News Review 17 Protection News Review 18 General Insurance News Review 20 Specialist Prime News Review 22 Economics News Review 23 Short Term Finance News Review 24 Packaging News Review 25 Scotland News Review
26 The bigger issue Vote in our poll and see what the experts think 30 Mortgage map The Eurozone crisis and its consequences
28 The mortgage maze
Get to grips with mortgage and housing analysis 36 The Power Hour Industry experts discuss fi ghting fraud 42 The Interview MI talks to Castle Trust’s Martyn Guerin 44 Fixing the market Professor Susan J Smith’s big idea 46 Remortgaging stalemate Where this leaves brokers 48 House prices Numbers reveal the national picture
50 Commercial News Review 54 NACFB News digest The NACFB shares its news from the past month
58 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 or Mortgage Introducer 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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