When talking about mortgages, linked products are extra items, such as life insurance or savings products, that a mortgage lender requires a customer to sign up to if they are to qualify for a certain promotional deal or interest rate.

According to a report on Which4U, Sales and Marketing Director for Coventry Mortgages, Colin Franklin, said that in the interest of mortgage advisors giving the best advisor to their customers, it makes sense to pledge not to make such requirements of the client as in many cases these can be products that the customer does not need, thereby wasting their money.

Mr Franklin commented:

“We were the first lender to make public commitments to the sector and we have remained true to them throughout the economic downturn.”

Three years ago, in 2007, Coventry Mortgages made a number of commitments to mortgage intermediaries regarding particular practices the firm would not do.

In other news, the intermediary division of Coventry Mortgages recently announced a number of new residential and first time buyer mortgages, included a 2 year fixed rate mortgage with an interest rate of 5.85% available for up to 85% loan to value.

Those taking their CeMAP training round Birmingham may well find themselves dealing with the likes of Coventry Mortgages.

As mortgage advisors will tell their clients, if you anticipate making significant overpayments on your mortgage then you must be careful to note the terms and conditions of your mortgage. Most mortgage lenders will cap the level of overpayments that can be made – typically to around 10 percent of the mortgage balance in a twelve month period.

Coventry’s new fixed rate mortgage is part of its Flexx Fixed range and the lender claims it is the only mortgage allowing the mortgage holder to pay as much as they like without a penalty.

There are two of these mortgage deals on offer at present; 3.99% fixed for two years (minimum Loan To Value (LTV) of 65%) or a 4.49% three year deal with a minimum LTV of 75%.

The Sales & Marketing Director at Coventry, Colin Franklin, commented:

“With interest rates at a historic low, many people are using this opportunity to overpay on their mortgage, and in some cases, become mortgage free many years earlier than they expected. We’ve designed our Flexx Fixed range to allow them to continue doing this whilst benefiting from the security a fixed rate product offers.”

In other news, Coventry is set to merge with the struggling Stroud & Swindon building society on 1st September creating a society with around 1.5 million members and more than 90 branches round Birmingham, the West Midlands and the South of England.

Those looking at CeMAP courses to become mortgage advisors round Birmingham will be interested in this news, although mortgages with building societies such as Coventry are not restricted to local residents.

Birmingham

Those interested in the mortgages market, such as those looking at taking CeMAP training in Birmingham, are interested to hear how local businesses are faring because it impacts on customers in the long term and the feeling of stability in the market.

Harvey Williams, a RICS West Midlands spokesperson, commented on how maintaining the low interest rates should assist the housing market. He commented:

“House prices in the West Midlands have definitely showed signs of stabilising in the early part of 2010, despite the harsh winter and even in spite of a late return to further snow flurries in early spring. We’ve seen a slightly more flexible approach from lenders emerging which is crucial for the provision of mortgage finance and this is combined with the fact that those looking to buy outstrips the numbers of those looking to sell.”

Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCI) policy advisor, Will Rogers, believes companies continue to feel reluctant to spend:

“Our latest quarterly economic survey shows that investment remains historically low. Lack of cash flow and inability to access to finance is still facing many firms. While fears of a double dip recession are slowly receding, confidence needs to be nurtured.”

Another representative, Mike Dell, President of Black Country Chamber of Commerce, added:

“The bank of England is correct to keep interest rates on hold. This decision will enable the UK to maintain price stability and therefore economic stability. Many businesses have experienced a difficult start to 2010, so it is imperative that Monetary Policy Committee maintain interest rates in the near future to ensure that businesses can continue to battle their way out of the recession.

“The Budget revealed some interesting announcements for SMEs, but I fear that the full details of those announcements will not be released until after the General Election. Following the election, it is essential that any rate increases in the future are slow and gradual and have a minimal impact on business”.

It will be interesting to see how long the interest rates are held this year – and many homeowners and those looking to remortgage in the next twelve months will be watching closely.

Birmingham

When applying for official authorisation from the FSA, Mohammed Hanif stated that Zaneb Sarfraz, his daughter-in-law trading under the name of Pak Property Centre had the necessary competence to be an ‘authorised person’. As such, she would be required to help manage and control Pak Property Centre and Mr Hanif confirmed this.

Following investigation, the FSA discovered Mrs Sarfraz did not understand the reason for the authorisation application and had little knowledge of the financial services industry.

After obtaining the authorisation on this false statement, Mr Hanif and Anmbur Saddiq, the mortgage advisor at Pak Property centre made false mortgage applications for Mr Hanif, a family member and Mrs Sarfraz.

The FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, Margaret Cole commented:

“This was a deliberate act of deception and exploitation by Hanif. He deceived the FSA by presenting sham governance arrangements during the authorisation process. In doing this seemingly he had no regard for the impact on the reputation of Mrs Sarfraz. This misconduct, which is very serious in itself, is compounded by the fact that he went on to use the authorised business to commit mortgage fraud.”

The FSA has reiterated that they must maintain the integrity of their authorisation process to ensure that dishonest people do not trade within the financial services industry.

CeMAP training

Before you book onto any training course with any training provider you might want to ask a few questions:

-    check how often the training materials are updated.  For example, the CeMAP syllabus changes twice a year as does the CeFA syllabus, so you need to be sure you won’t get partway through the course and find the trainer reading the materials and pointing out that actually, some of the material is out of date so please make extra notes.  That won’t help your exam revision
-    ask what materials they use during their training.  Typical training materials will include a projector connected to a laptop, a whiteboard, pre-printed materials, perhaps a flipchart, amongst others
-    check how long they’ve been training.  Training companies generally only learn from experience, for example, at one CeMAP training course in Birmingham held by a particular CeMAP training company, delegates were troubled to find the projector lamp blew and the trainer had no backup plan.  A course is not easy when the main equipment is broken, but without this experience what training company would think to check there were spare projector lamps in hand!
-    ask what provisions are in place for a refund should anything happen that will cause either the company to cancel the entire course, in which case a reputable training company should offer a full refund or a place on an alternative course.  It is worth making sure that these policies are in place as you should not assume

At Beacon Financial Training, we have many years of experience with training CeFA and CeMAP students and have been offering CeRER courses for as long as they have been available.  Our courses are well organised and training materials changed with every update so we can be confident of our promises.

At the height of the mortgage boom, mortgage lenders such as the Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, Northern Rock and  Coventry Building Society offered borrowers mortgages of up to 125 per cent of the property value.  As house prices have fallen around 10 per cent since that time, many homeowners are finding themselves in negative equity.  Unable to remortgage due to the lack of equity, these homeowners have little alternative but to go onto the Standard Variable Rate (SVR) of their current mortgage lender.  They are unable to remortgage and cannot afford to sell up either.

This offer from Coventry Building Society is a five year fixed rate mortgage, covering up to 100 per cent of a property value and has no arrangement or booking fees either.

Those undertaking CeMAP training or becoming mortgage advisors in the Birmingham area will be familiar with Coventry Building Society.  Other mortgage lenders have yet to follow the building society’s lead.

Birmingham

According to a financial analyst at Moneyfacts, Michelle Slade:

“Borrowers in the Midlands have wider access to a higher number of mortgage products than anyone else in the UK, with those living in the Leicestershire having the widest choice.”

This statement was made primarily because the Birmingham and Midlands area has a higher number and concentration of the smaller building societies, which have in the last few decades been swallowed up by larger banks and mortgage lenders.  As a result, this was a question posed by a delegate on a CeMAP training course in the Birmingham and Midlands area.

These building societies, such as the Birmingham Midshires Building Society or West Bromwich Building Society, offer selected products purely for borrowers who live in that region, nearby counties and / or certain postcodes within a specificed region.  Mortgage borrowers often need to hold an account with that building society too in order to qualify for a mortgage with the building society.

That could mean that mortgage advisors in the Birmingham area have more choice to offer their clients, and indeed may have more business.  For those who are considering becoming a mortgage advisor in the area, it could be worthwhile attending a local CeMAP training course in Birmingham.