Eight held in big mortgage fraud investigation

Detectives have arrested eight people in connection with a suspected 40 million pound mortgage fraud, police said on Tuesday.

Officers from the City of London Police made the arrests at six homes in the north of the capital and in Sussex. Three business premises were also raided.

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Many have interest-free mortgages

Tens of thousands of homeowners now have interest-free mortgages following the latest cut to the Bank of England base rate.

It is estimated that more than 50,000 people took out tracker mortgage deals that are guaranteed to be at least 0.5% below the base rate during the past two years.

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Debt warning over Mortgage Support Scheme

The government’s mortgage rescue plans may provide breathing space but could significantly increase overall debt and lead to negative equity, experts have warned.

The new Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, announced yesterday by Gordon Brown after the Queen’s Speech, will allow homeowners facing a sudden loss of income to cut their mortgage repayments.

This will be done by the borrower deferring a proportion of their interest payments on their mortgage for up to two years – but deferred payments will be rolled back into the total still owed.

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Taxpayer backs fifth of Lloyds mortgages

More than 20% of home loans from Lloyds Banking Group, Britain’s largest mortgage bank, have been included among the group’s most toxic assets and pushed into the government’s insurance scheme in an effort to insulate the firm from the full impact of further house price falls.

Hundreds of thousands of mortgages, worth £74bn, have been included among £260bn of assets placed under the taxpayer protection scheme as part of a deal agreed late on Friday night that could see the government’s stake in Lloyds rise to as much as 77%. The value of home loans to receive a taxpayer guarantee represents 21% of the Lloyds’ residential mortgage book, which is valued at £352bn.

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What to do now cost of mortgages is being cut

Banks and building societies have begun cutting the cost of their mortgages after last week’s Bank of England half-point interest-rate cut to 0.5%, igniting hopes of a battle over fixed-rate deals.

Abbey kicked off the likely action in the five-year fixed-rate market with a market-leading deal at 3.95%, plus a £595 fee, for borrowers with a 40% deposit.

The loan trumps HSBC’s former best-buy, five-year fix at 3.99% with a £999 fee. As with HSBC, Abbey’s deal applies only to loans of £250,000 or less.

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Chelsea reports a loss before tax of £39.3m

Chelsea Building Society made a loss before tax of £39.3m for 2008 as it emerges as the latest mutual to shoulder the costs of the Icelandic banking crisis.

PMS launches large loan service

PMS has launched a new commercial partnership with specialist broker largemortgageloans.com to deliver a large loan referral service for PMS members.

Bank of England cuts base rate

The Bank of England`s Monetary Policy Committee today announced it would be cutting its base rate by another half-point to 0.5%.

The cut is a further attempt to encourage banks and other financial institutions to lend money to businesses and individuals, which could help to revive the economy and limit the effects of the recession.

However, a number of lenders announced last month that they would be unlikely to change their customers` interest rates in line with future base rate cuts, and a number of experts have said that base rate cuts are no longer enough to tackle the economic downturn - adding that savers would be likely to suffer.

A spokesperson for Debt Advisers Direct said: “It`s less likely than in previous months that we will see significant falls in rates on mortgages and loans - apart from tracker deals, which are automatically tied to the base rate.

“The concern for many people is that savings rates are likely to fall, meaning those who rely on savings interest to supplement their income could lose out.

“However, we still advise that savings should be an important part of people`s finances. After all, any amount of savings offers better protection against falling into debt than no savings at all.”

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Alan Dring unveiled as Marketing Innovation Forum’s sales guru

Industry consultant Alan Dring has been unveiled as the sales guru on the recently launched Marketing Innovation Forum.

Mortgage Intelligence offers 48 hour proc fee

Mortgage Intelligence is offering 48 hour procuration fees for Abbey’s latest exclusive 3.59% two- year fixed broker rate to all directly authorised members.

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