August 16 – Mortgage Prisoners
It’s been over two years since the Mortgage Market Review was implemented and there is still an issue with borrowers being unfairly trapped in their existing mortgage. Throughout 2014 lenders were criticised for failing to implement the FCA’s transitional arrangements, which allowed them to waive the affordability checks for their own, and other lenders’, customers […]
August 16 – A Big Package
The long awaited cut in base rates has happened. For a long time we all thought “the only way was up”, only to be confounded by the British people finding their voice and giving London centric politicians and Brussels bureaucrats a bloody nose. The result however is beginning to look like an attempt at economic […]
July 16 – The future of green homes
With fossil fuels a limited resource, global energy prices are expected to continue to rise. Despite the relatively stable price of domestic gas and electricity over the past five years there is an upward pressure on household energy bills. Together with pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we will over time see a greater demand […]
July 16 – Courting normality
Whilst the story of BREXIT dominates the headlines and our two main political parties jockey for control over future power, for the vast majority of people the world is just the same. We still go to work, get paid, pay our bills, buy things and try to make the world a better place. We will […]
June 16 – Significant AMI Win on FCA Fees
AMI made a series of objections in responding to this year’s FCA fees consultation. As one of only two organisations to object to the additional consumer buy to let (CBTL) fees, AMI is pleased that the FCA has agreed to remove the CBTL periodic fee and the CBTL FOS levy for already authorised firms. This […]
June 16 – Competitive Us
At heart of the FCA competition review has to be that we end up with a mortgage market which works even better for consumers. The 2016 mortgage market must be seen as having a great variety of products at prices which have never been seen before. Perhaps only in the heady days of 2006 have […]
June 16 – In the FCA Box
The FCA Occasional Paper number 17 on Access to Financial Services lets us see what much of our fees are being spent on. This 160 page tour of digital, financial crime, segmentation and ageing allows us a lesson on the intellectual property of our regulator. It looks easy living in the FCA box, with the […]
May 16 – Competitive Dancing
The FCA decision that the mortgage market needs further regulatory attention says a lot about the journey we are on. It is clear to all that following the crisis it is not yet a properly functioning market, but it appears that it is not anyone’s fault. Not the FCA, not PRA, not lenders, and with […]
May 16 – New Partners
As we see a swathe of new offerings coming to market from a range of new lenders, brokers are going to have to up their game to keep abreast of all the new offerings. In coming to market however, these lenders are having to make some difficult choices, both in terms of the types of […]
May 16 – Digital cometh
Any discussion on the digital revolution, must start with what impact technology and most importantly mobile and tablets will have on consumer behaviour. It is important to recognise that there are only three key components in most property transactions. There is the house itself, a customer and a lender. All else falls off the back […]
