Opinions & blogs

Good times for buy-to-let

The buy-to-let sector hardly needed any further stimulation, but received another shot in the...

Do your homework

When was the last time that you checked what your club offered? Are...

Don’t ignore the silver surfers

When you think of the average internet user – and the typical social media...

Financial incentives and the FCA

The TCF initiative has been with us for a number of years now. It...

Specialist lending & complex investment opportunities

As confidence increases in the commercial property market, our brokers are reporting a growing...

BTL fraud is everyone’s business

While landlords, lenders and brokers are no doubt enjoying the growth of the buy-to-let...

Solicitors remain uncertain about activity

Many outside the housing market are continually looking for signs of an improving market...

IMLA wants effective Help to Buy guarantee

The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association has warned that, despite positive Council of Mortgage Lenders...

Huge potential still from protection

Although the protection market is enjoying something of a purple patch at present –...

Big data: big opportunity or big headache?

Did you know that 90% of the world’s stored data has been created just...

Shifting attitudes towards inheritance?

The interest-only time bomb stories may have died down slightly from the wall-to-wall coverage...

Making light work of the MMR

As mortgage availability improves and last year’s concerns over the threat of dual pricing...

Let’s not ‘innovate’ ourselves into another disaster

I’ve written before about the use of the word ‘innovation’ in the mortgage marketplace...

‘Know your broker’ is changing face of DA market

The Know your Broker initiative is having a real effect on directly authorised advisers...

COMMENT

The case for tech fluency before AI adoption in the mutual sector

It often feels like there is only one conversation taking place in financial services at the moment: artificial intelligence. Whether it’s trade shows and...

Commonhold and RTM: do not mistake control for simplicity

Commonhold is presented as a fairer form of flat ownership. Right to Manage (RTM) is sometimes portrayed as a quick way for residents to...

No holidays: advice firms need a plan for a busy August

Every summer, the same quiet risk runs through the intermediary market. Advisers, case managers and administrators go on holiday. Specialist lending cases, which have...

Every rate shock is becoming a test of the modern mortgage business

Halifax, Barclays and HSBC increased selected mortgage rates by up to 0.20% this week, effective 21 July. Halifax removed its sub-4% deals entirely. Barclays'...

Your next client is probably more complicated than your last one

There's a shift happening in the mortgage market that most small firms aren't ready for. It's not about rates. It's not about the political...

Latest news

Final call for views on FCA mortgage reforms

The mortgage industry has until tomorrow to respond to Financial Conduct Authority proposals intended...

One in five borrow to fund private healthcare

Almost one in five people who recently accessed private healthcare used a credit card...

Digital mortgage ID checks unaffected by government U-turn

Digital identity verification used by mortgage lenders, brokers and other regulated firms is unaffected...

Family BS launches broker Mortgage Hub

Family Building Society has launched an online mortgage application platform designed to give brokers...

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