UK: Mortgages up 25% in March

The number of mortgages advanced for house purchase increased by 25% in March this year, compared with the previous month, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The number of first-time buyers rose by 27% over the same period, while remortgage numbers increased by 23%.

However, the CML warned that remortgage figures remain weak, and are expected to stay this way for some time.

Mortgage lending also recorded a 45% year-on-year increase, marking the ninth consecutive month of annual increases.

Michael Coogan, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, said: “Today`s figures indicate there is currently some momentum to house purchase lending, but for the sake of the future health of the housing and mortgage markets, the new government will need to focus on the critical issue of funding and how to address the issues arising from the repayment of the emergency support provided during the financial crisis.”

Read more @ www.ThinkMoney.com

MPs’ expenses: investigation into ‘collusion’ over mortgage claims

Parliamentary authorities, overseen by Michael Martin, the Speaker, gave secret permission for some MPs to over-claim for thousands of pounds in home loan interest in deals that led to the systematic abuse of the taxpayer-funded expenses system.

Ben Chapman, a Labour MP, admitted on Sunday night that he was allowed to continue claiming for interest payments on his entire mortgage after repaying £295,000 of the loan in 2002.

Read more

Mortgage rescue claim is rejected

A woman was rejected by the government’s mortgage rescue scheme despite being the “perfect candidate”, according to financial advisers.

Donna Parsons was told that under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme the government would buy her home, pay off her debt and rent her home back to her.

But despite showing four bank letters threatening repossession she had not been sent one from her mortgage lender.

“There is just no flexibility, it must be notice from the lender,” she said.

Read more

Could you defer your mortgage payments?

Homeowners struggling to meet their mortgage debt could be offered lower monthly repayments as part of a new government and banking initiative.

The Homeowners Mortgage Support (HMS) scheme is being offered by 10 banking groups and building societies, with other institutions lined up to join the scheme soon.

The scheme means that borrowers who suffer a temporary loss of income could cut their mortgage interest payments by up to 70% for up to two years.

Read more

Northern Rock to report second year of losses after mortgage arrears rise

Northern Rock will report a second year of losses following a rise in arrears and bad debts, the nationalised mortgage lender said yesterday.

Mortgage arrears increased in the first three months of the year, in line with the deteriorating economic conditions, according to the bank’s first-quarter trading statement.

The size of the losses could exceed the £900m of last year, though the switch in its strategy from repaying a £27bn government loan to becoming a major engine of lending growth makes calculating the size of the loss difficult.

Read more

900,000 homeowners pushed into negative equity, says mortgage body

Falling house prices have pushed more than 900,000 homeowners into negative equity, according to the industry body representing mortgage lenders.

The latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders issued yesterday, reveals that the north-east of England has the highest proportion of people trapped in properties worth less than their mortgages.

There, one in 10 owner-occupiers are in negative equity. By contrast, in East Anglia and Scotland it is one in 100.

The council said that its latest national estimate compares with the more than 1.5 million homeowners left struggling under the weight of their home loans following the early 90s housing market crash.

Read more: 900,000 homeowners pushed into negative equity, says mortgage body

UK homeowners pay off £8bn of mortgage debt

British homeowners are benefiting from the cuts in interest rates by paying off their mortgages in record amounts, figures showed today.

A huge £8bn of mortgage debt was repaid in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Bank of England figures, as Britons with tracker mortgages responded to the sharp fall in interest repayments by pumping the spare cash into paying off their capital.

It follows figures earlier this week showing record inflows of savings into building societies and data last week showing a rebound in the proportion of income people are saving, as those in employment take the opportunity to pay off debt and prepare for leaner times as the country sinks into recession.

Read more: UK homeowners pay off £8bn of mortgage debt

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

Next Page »