FSA may introduce new financial qualifications for particular products
January 24, 2011
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has hinted that it may force financial and mortgage advisors to take additional training and qualifications if they are to advise on certain non-mainstream products or deals that the FSA is concerned may lead to customer dissatisfaction.
With qualifications Read more
Mortgage advisors remain optimistic about 2011’s mortgage market
January 18, 2011
According to a recent report by TMA (The Mortgage Alliance), 86 percent of its club members expect their business volumes to rise over the forthcoming twelve months.
The mortgage club conducted a survey amongst its Read more
How the change in retirement ages could affect mortgages
January 15, 2011
The removal of the default retirement age (DRA) is likely to have an impact, not only on the way people plan for the latter part of their life financially, but also how mortgage lenders view the terms of their mortgages.
Many lenders will not allow borrowers to extend the term of a mortgage beyond the age of 65, but according to Sue Anderson, speaking on behalf of Read more
ifs launches new mortgage advisor qualification
December 6, 2010
The ifs School of Finance has launched a new qualification aimed at mortgage advisors.
Those who has already passed their CeMAP exam will have recently received, or be about to receive, a letter explaining a new qualification for mortgage advisors.
The CeMAP is the benchmark qualification that you need if you want to become a mortgage advisor. Recently, the FSA (Financial Services Authority) has issued proposals to make the CeMAP compulsory for anyone involved in the sale of a mortgage, from the call centre advisor to the administrator. Now, the DipMAP Read more
Halifax increases SVR
November 30, 2010
The Halifax has introduced a new and higher rate of interest that will hit new mortgage customers when their mortgage deal comes to an end.
From the 11th January next year, Read more
Should the FSA go a step further and insist on mortgage advice?
November 24, 2010
The FSA recently announced its proposals that anyone involved with the sale of a mortgage should have to have their CeMAP, but is this enough?
In an earlier article, we discussed how the FSA’s latest report states that anyone dealing in the sale of mortgages should have a qualification at Level 3 or equivalent – in other words, many call centre staff and bank workers will need to pass the CeMAP exam. However, many in the mortgages market believe this does not go far enough.
According to Read more
Barclays to help mortgage advisors give great customer service
November 15, 2010
Barclays has unveiled its improved IntroTrack service and any mortgage advisors submitting a mortgage application through the bank’s mortgage lending arm Woolwich will be automatically Read more
First time buyers welcome new 90% Co-op mortgage
September 27, 2010
A new mortgage was recently unveiled by The Co-operative Bank that offers a loan to value (LTV) of up to 90% and is specifically aimed at the first time buyer.
The Co-operative Bank and its subsidiary company Britannia have Read more
Mortgage brokers defend use of interest only mortgages
September 18, 2010
Mortgage brokers have defended the use of interest-only mortgages, in a move that backs the warning given to the FSA by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which claimed that proposed changes could kill off the interest only mortgage altogether.
In its Mortgage Market Review (MMR), the Financial Services Authority has proposed Read more
Mortgage range overhauled by Manchester Building Society
September 6, 2010
Manchester Building Society is set to revamp its mortgage range, according to a recent article in the Mortgage Introducer.
The overhaul means that the number of residential mortgages and buy-to-let mortgages available to mortgage intermediaries is set to increase and a new range of Read more
