News Review: Property


MMR and housing strategy game changers by


Nigel Stockton, financial services director,


Countrywide


Who said that december is a slow month in the mortgage world? it seems the week before christmas the Financial Services authority were keen to tie- up some loose ends. We had the publication of the long awaited mortgage market review and the Vickers report into the uK banking sector. i’m sure they were the hot topics at the christmas parties – well perhaps for the first hour or so! Firstly let’s look at the


mortgage market review. the FSa should be applauded for producing a thorough and coherent report with proposals to enforce responsible mortgage lending practices. it is widely acknowledged


that the current mortgage advice process is confusing for customers. We are pleased that the FSa has responded to customers’ needs and simplified this process by scrapping the non-advised


process favoured by most banks. one of the most positive


changes is that the proposed measures provide the much- needed clarification on the grey area surrounding where responsibility for measuring affordability


ultimately


lies. the lender assuming responsibility for ensuring the affordability of the loan removes any confusion, providing clear and adequate protection for consumers. the FSa is doing the right


thing for mortgage customers and for long-term market stability. However, despite the proposals coming into force in 2013, the housing market is too fragile at present and these changes could introduce further instability into the housing market.


Banking review We also heard the recommendations made by


the independent


commission’s review into banking. Headed up by Sir John Vickers and set up last year to review the financial sector after the 2008 banking crisis, the Vickers report broadly recommends separating


banks’ retail business from their investment business. What does this mean for mortgage rates? By spreading costs through both the investment and retail businesses, banks were able to spread the risk. Should this recommendation be enforced? invariably these costs may be passed on to the consumer through much more expensive mortgage rates. Whilst this recommendation has yet to be determined, i for one will be watching closely.


Buy-to-let it seems that Santa did bring us brokers some good news in december, with abbey for intermediaries entering the buy-to-let arena. although many in the industry knew it was coming, it’s always good to see an announcement like that and it sounds like it is all systems go. in fact, by the time you read this abbey for intermediaries might already be actively competing with the mortgage Works, Bm Solutions, coventry and Yorkshire; another new entrant we welcomed to the buy-to-let market less than a year ago.


GOVERNMENT HOUSING STRATEGY HAS PROS AND CONS


It is yet to be seen what kind of an impact the recent government housing strategy announcements will have on lending and the market in general. It’s really disappointing that Stamp Duty holidays for first-time buyers will cease in March this year, especially as there have been some slight improvements in higher loan to value lending and first- time buyer products over the last few months. The potential ‘extra’ cost of £2,500 is a lot for first-time buyers and I think that we would have seen more first-time buyer activity in 2012 if it had been extended. Ideally, we would call for it to be extended to cover all buyers. However the Mortgage Indemnity scheme is a welcome move. Let’s hope consumers are kept informed and get on board by recognising the opportunities that are available to both get on and move up the housing ladder so the scheme helps 100,000 families.


Variable. Fixed. Discount. BTL products.


6 mortgage introducer JANUARY


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52