Kevin Tunnicliffe on ending the race to the bottom

This was always going to be a tricky interview. I’ve known Kevin Tunnicliffe, chief executive officer of Sort Group, which includes Sort Refer, for over 20 years. But for the last decade my other half has been in...

Latest news

Family Building Society restores 60% LTV deals and cuts rates

Family Building Society has reintroduced 60% loan-to-value products across its core owner-occupier range and reduced selected fixed rates by as much as 30 basis...

Recognise Bank appoints EveryFriday to deliver brand overhaul

Recognise Bank has appointed creative studio EveryFriday to lead a full rebrand as it looks to strengthen its positioning among SMEs and property professionals. The...

Simplify appoints key account director

Simplify has appointed Samantha Tickell as key account director as the conveyancing and property services group looks to strengthen support for introducer partners. Tickell (pictured)...

Brokers deliver speed for first-time buyers, but lender delays persist

Mortgage brokers are moving first-time buyers through early stages of the application process in a matter of days, although delays beyond submission continue to...

UK buyers warm to AI in homebuying, but still want human oversight

Three quarters of homebuyers expect artificial intelligence to play a role in the homebuying process, but UK consumers remain more cautious than their counterparts in the United States and Canada, according to new research from Cotality. The study, which...

The Cambridge brings back fixed rates across core range

The Cambridge Building Society has reintroduced fixed-rate mortgages across its main range, offering new options for first-time buyers, remortgage borrowers and home movers. The refreshed line-up includes two-year and five-year fixed-rate products, alongside the society’s existing discounted variable rate...

Rely completes buy-to-let remortgage in 6.5 working days

Rely has completed a buy-to-let remortgage in 6.5 working days, moving a landlord off bridging finance shortly after refurbishment works were finished. The specialist lender said the case ran from initial application through to completion and the release of...

Conveybuddy gives more than £8,000 to charities in first quarter

Conveybuddy donated £8,249 to three charity partners in the first three months of 2026, with the total linked to completed conveyancing cases referred through its platform. The conveyancing distributor said £4,208 went to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, while...

PROFILE

Profile: Andrew Lloyd, CEO of Fignum

Andrew Lloyd is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fignum. He was appointed to the role in October 2024 to lead the business, which...

INDUSTRY COMMENT

Second charge, the first option

A quiet shift is underway in the UK mortgage market, and it is being driven by borrowers, not lenders. We are seeing more clients who...

What to look for when determining your network partner?

Over the years I have spoken to many advisers who are either thinking about starting their own firm or reviewing whether their current network...

Beyond the Robo-Adviser: why the future of mortgages is ‘Human Plus’

The fintech industry is obsessing over a binary choice: the traditional human broker or the fully automated 'robo-adviser'. But as we navigate the complexities...

Ceasefire boosts sentiment more than mortgage market

What goes up must come down, but for mortgage rates the drop will be notably more gradual than the sharp increase triggered by the...

A surge today, but what comes next for advisers and conveyancing?

March has provided a very clear example of how quickly this market can move when lenders feel the need to take action, with widespread...

Technology adapts so you don’t have to

20 years ago, many brokerages looked and operated in very similar ways. Typically small, local business, many firms focused solely on standard residential mortgage...

Q&As

BUY-TO-LET

Mortgage searches hit 2.15 million in March as remortgage demand jumps

Mortgage search activity rose sharply in March as borrowers moved to secure deals amid...

Buying still £500 cheaper than renting despite rates above 5%

Mortgage affordability continues to outperform renting despite rates pushing back above 5%, as lenders...

Keystone names Steve Griffiths as commercial director

Keystone Property Finance has appointed Steve Griffiths as commercial director, adding a senior industry...

Clydesdale raises selected residential and buy-to-let product transfer rates

Clydesdale will increase selected residential and buy-to-let product transfer rates from Tuesday 14 April,...

Barclays loosens affordability rules for residential and buy-to-let borrowers

Barclays has changed its affordability calculations for residential and buy-to-let mortgages, in a move...

Landbay adds small HMO remortgage products to Premier range

Landbay has added new small HMO remortgage products to its Premier range as it...

Flipping slump reshapes broker opportunities

Falling profitability in the property flipping market is reshaping opportunities for mortgage brokers as...

The Leek lowers mortgage rates across residential and specialist products

Leek Building Society is cutting mortgage rates across parts of its residential, shared ownership,...

MORTGAGE MINGLE PODCAST

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

FIRST-TIME BUYERS

Help to Buy benefits skewed towards higher earners, IFS finds

Government-backed Help to Buy schemes delivered modest improvements in housing affordability, with the gains concentrated among higher-income households, according to new analysis. Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests that the flagship policies, introduced in 2013 to support homeownership, did little to shift...

Santander cuts higher loan-to-value rates for first-time buyers and movers

Santander is cutting rates across a wide range of higher loan-to-value mortgage products from...

Mortgage Advice Bureau buys HomeOwners Alliance in push to reach buyers earlier

Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) has bought consumer platform HomeOwners Alliance as it looks to...

Mortgage deals vanish in days as rates surge

Mortgage deals are disappearing at record speed as lenders scramble to reprice in a...

Zero-deposit mortgage sales reach five-year high as affordability pressures persist

The number of zero-deposit mortgage sales reached 574 in the first three quarters of...

OPINION

Rental barometer shows strength, but March changes the tone

Looking at our recently published Q1 2026 Rental Barometer data in isolation, there is clearly a strong and positive story to tell. Average rental...

Home and away: How appetite for UK property is rising

Conflicts in Ukraine and now the Middle East are a reminder that the catastrophic...

Mutual strength and the broker partnership

The mutual sector has always been associated with community purpose, local branches and a...

First-time, accidental or professional? How the landlord profile is shifting in 2026

One of the most common misconceptions that people have about the buy-to-let market is that landlords are a single, uniform group. The reality is that the sector has always been made up of a wide range of different borrower types, each of whom have...

Complexity is rising and broker enablement has never mattered more

 For many years, success in the mortgage market was built off efficiency. If a broker understood the mainstream lending landscape, packaged cases well and kept...

DISTRIBUTION

HLPartnership adds Afin Bank to panel

HLPartnership has added Afin Bank to its lender panel, giving advisers across the network...

Rosemount adds Handelsbanken to lender panel

Rosemount Financial Solutions has added Handelsbanken to its lender panel, giving advisers access to...

FCA maps out open finance plans with mortgages and SME lending in focus

The Financial Conduct Authority has set out its latest vision for open finance, with...

Bank of Ireland brings Lauren Wiles back to national partnership role

Bank of Ireland for Intermediaries has appointed Lauren Wiles as a national partnership manager...

The Leeds strengthens intermediary team with senior account manager hire

Leeds Building Society has hired Michelle Ward as corporate account manager, adding more than 25 years of industry experience to its intermediary distribution team. Ward (pictured) joins from Virgin Money and Clydesdale Bank, where she held the role of national account manager, bringing experience in...