Opinions & blogs

Living in the material world…

You’d be forgiven for having missed it given how little coverage there has been,...

It makes sense to team up over advice

If you rewind back a few years to before the global financial crisis, financial...

What DAs want

TMA recently hosted a focus group with a group of directly authorised mortgage and...

Government proactivity is encouraging

Given the criticisms the government’s Help to Buy scheme has received since the Budget...

Are you treating yourself fairly?

For many advisers, the first few months of 2013 will have been as taxing...

Effective startup funding is key

Keeping up with the latest technological innovations is fundamental to business success and laws...

91% rise in Teachers’ new lending

The Teachers Building Society has published its annual results for 2012. New lending was...

Don’t let PPI scare you off selling insurance

Given the integral role that protection now plays in the average mortgage broker’s proposition...

Things to get tougher for the elderly

Much was made in the past of how equity release could be used to...

RDR has contracted the adviser market

There was much speculation in the lead-up to the implementation of the RDR about...

Brokers shouldn’t forget lessons from the downturn

In my last column I mentioned how 2013 seemed to have got off to...

UK banking behind on technology

The bank of the future holds many layers of mystery and unimaginable scope for...

Size isn’t always everything

If any further proof were needed that buy-to-let is the place to be at...

The flaws in the social care cap

Given some of the political reaction to the recently announced £75,000 social care cap,...

COMMENT

Mutual strength and the broker partnership

The mutual sector has always been associated with community purpose, local branches and a member-first approach that feels a little different to the wider...

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...

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...

Industry pushes to build next generation of home valuers

According to RICS, the average qualified surveyor is in their mid-fifties. Couple this with new entrant numbers failing to keep pace with retirements, and...

Supply side continues to drive the change agenda

Regulatory change is no longer something firms respond to periodically. It is now a permanent feature of the landscape. Whether it is capital treatment...

Latest news

The Vernon hires internal BDM to expand intermediary reach

Vernon Building Society has appointed Damien Sabbaghe as intermediary business development manager as it...

Coventry trims first-time buyer and limited company buy-to-let rates

Coventry for intermediaries has cut selected mortgage rates for first-time buyers and limited company...

TRM adds to PMI team with supervision & development manager hire

The Right Mortgage & Protection Network has appointed Gemma Penkethman as PMI supervision &...

Rental yields rise across England and Wales as buy-to-let market enters more volatile period

Rental yields increased annually in every region of England and Wales in the first...

PROFILES