What are the compensation rules when a customer has both deposits (over £85,000) and an outstanding mortgage with the same failed bank (either offset or standalone)? What happened with either B&B or Northern Rock customers in this situation?
I wrote the following letter to both Intelligent Finance and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme but they gave differing responses. Continue reading Insolvency compensation rules for deposit and mortgages
It is possible to remortage within six months of purchase, even on a buy to let property, I promise you! Forget everything you have heard about “the CML’s six month rule”, no such rule exists!
The legend of the “CML’s six month rule” for remortgaging has been bandied around forums for at least five years now but I can assure you that no such rules exists – allow me to explain. 
Continue reading You can remortage within six months!
Northern Rock BuytoLet who are part of Virgin Money have confirmed they will consider “Day One” remortgages otherwise known as “Back-to-Back” and Regulated BuytoLets for the use of close family members.
This is a very niche area for Lenders with only Mortgage Trust as the other company able to consider remortgages inside six months of the purchase date when significant works have been carried out and BM Solutions who will consider Regulated BuytoLet applications. Continue reading Northern Rock BuytoLet Useful Criteria
The buy to let market has been very quiet for the last few weeks with little to report on rate changes, but the first lender to make their move appears to be the state owned Northern Rock.
The Northern Rock have reduced their rates by up to 0.36% and continue to offer a £500 Cashback on all of their buy to let product range
The ‘bad bank’ that owns former buy to let specialist Mortgage Express has announced a massive surge in pre-tax profits to just over £1 billion.
UK Asset Resolution, the government-backed bank that took over the debts of Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley in 2010, claims the improvement is due to tough action to reduce arrears and stamp out fraud.
Mortgages three months or more in arrears fell 14% during the year to 33,216, with 98 homes repossessed. Continue reading Bad bank profits leap to £1 billion
"New figures show gulf between major and minor buy to let lenders"
The Big Six mortgage lenders account for 81.5% of all buy to let and home buyer mortgages in the UK, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
The Big Six advanced £110.8 billion in 2010, while the 27 remaining lenders advanced £23.5 billion – an indication of the gulf between the major and minor players in mortgage lending.
For landlords, the figures are slightly skewed as Paragon Mortgages did not restart lending until October 2010, so the company’s results are missing from the figures. Continue reading Biggest Mortgage Lenders Dominate 81% of the Market
Google launches mortgage comparison site
Google has quietly launched a trial run of a mortgage comparison site that includes buy to let mortgages.
Links to the site appear at the top of the search results page triggered by mortgage related keywords.
Only a few lenders are listed – Woolwich, ING Direct, Lloyds TSB, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Around five buy to let deals are available to compare. Continue reading Google launches new mortgage comparison site
Buy to let specialist Mortgage Express expects to write-off another £80 million to loan fraudsters and slack business practices this year.
The former buy to let lender shut up shop for new business during the credit crunch and has already put aside around £200 million to pay for suspected fraud and negligence. Continue reading Mortgage Express sets aside another £80 million for fraud
Mortgage Trust is lending to buy to let landlords again – after a three year break from the market.
The firm, a subsidiary of property investment specialist Paragon Mortgages, stopped lending in February 2008. Continue reading Mortgage Trust is back in buy to let after three year gap
Lenders and commentators – including the influential Paul Fisher, the Bank of England’s director of markets – are warning that the natural interest rate in a well-functioning economy is around the 5% mark.
With the Bank of England base rate stuck firmly at 0.5% since March 2009, many are worried that buy to let landlords have not subjected their property businesses to a robust stress-test to see what happens when rates go up. Continue reading Why some mortgage lenders including Paragon Mortgages Stress Test at 9% or more
