January 17 – New Year, new beginnings?
The New Year has brought in a few changes to the mortgage market, including the Prudential Regulation Authority underwriting requirements on buy to let contracts and the end of the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme. As a result we have seen some lenders increase their interest coverage ratio to higher than the minimum prescribed […]
December 16 – Equity Release – not a universal panacea
The world of equity release is evolving. With a new record lending total of £1.58bn to the end of Q3 in 2016, against a full year number of £1.71b in 2015, it looks likely that we will top £2bn for the first time this year. With new lending up 35% to £633.8m in Q3 itself, […]
December 16 – Ensuring the best of advice
A new debate has been added to the mortgage landscape recently. The volume of product transfer business being done directly by lenders is not included in Product Sales Data provided to the FCA and is not part of any statistics produced by the CML. This means that this activity is invisible. Current estimates are that […]
December 16 – Debt consolidation
AMI continues to have discussions with the FCA on debt consolidation around its expectations of firms. We have subsequently provided guidance for our members. A recent workshop highlighted the importance of record keeping as intermediaries and lenders need to be able to evidence why advice to consolidate debts is suitable and appropriate to a customer’s […]
December 16 – FSCS supplementary levy
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has today (1 December) issued its half year outlook report. This sets out the FSCS’s intention to ask the industry for further funds in addition to the usual annual levy. This will be invoiced late January or early February, to be paid within 30 days.
November 16 – The potential for read across
There has been recent focus on the general insurance market with the FCA demanding changes to the renewal process in order to encourage customers to shop around. From next year increased disclosure will be required from insurers and intermediaries to emphasise this. Price comparison websites in the GI market have also been highlighted as distracting […]
November 16 – Bring me a fairer tax system
The last year has seen an onslaught against the private rental sector landlord. There was broad consensus at the end of 2015 between government, the Financial Policy Committee and the Bank of England that steam should be taken out of the private rented sector. First there was the 3% stamp duty hike on second or […]
November 16 – Elections to the Board of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries
As part of being an open and transparent body, which is fully representative of its members and their interests, the period for nominations for certain Board positions has been opened. These are part of the process where all Board positions are re-elected on at least a three year rolling cycle, although existing members of the […]
October 16 – Fishing for profit
The challenges facing the larger mortgage lenders could not be more intense. With house prices coming off their peak in London, the start of the withdrawal of Help to Buy, more new entrants and larger players like HSBC and TSB taking market share, base rate at record lows and having to manage ring-fencing and horizon […]
October 2016 – Need for Advice
The Mortgage Market Review rightly recognised the need to establish, through advice, not what the customer thinks they want but what they genuinely need, as being a core cornerstone of the future market. The move from the pre-MMR position of many customers merely selecting the cheapest product via a non-advised offering to receiving advice has […]
October 2016 – Open Season
The political and regulatory agenda shows no signs of slowing down. With Theresa May now setting out her vision for her new government, the core promise was that a new United Kingdom with renewed sovereign powers would have a government prepared to intervene more in markets where it sees reasonable justification to resolve issues. The […]
October 2016 – Ageing population
The FCA seems to be taking positive steps in its work on the ageing population. It launched this project at the beginning of the year by issuing a discussion paper inviting the industry to suggest the focus of its work. Following the feedback, it received, the regulator has now provided an update. It is encouraging […]
