Research, undertaken by the Yorkshire Building Society, suggests that 95% of consumers will use the internet, at some stage, when taking out a mortgage. At the moment, 20% of respondants suggest that they are willing to complete a full online mortgage application. However, the number of people taking a mortgage out online is likely to [...]

A study by the FSA has revealed that 25% of mortgage lenders are giving poor advice. In particular the FSA was critical of self certification mortgage lenders. Quite a few were willing to proceed with lending despite the uncertainty of the income for borrowers. 10 of these (mainly) self-certification lenders now face sanctions from the [...]

The number of new mortgages approved in the UK fell from 54,000 in September to 44,100 in October. This is a fall of 37 per cent slump on October last year. This reflects the weakness in the housing market and could be a prelude to falling house prices. The decline in the number of mortgage [...]

One of the UK’s biggest sub prime mortgage lenders – Kensington Mortgages, has announced that it has had to temporarily withdraw its entire range of sub prime mortgage products. This also involves withdrawing other types of non-conventional mortgages such as self-certification, and buy to let mortgages. The company explained its decision saying: “As a result [...]

Although the UK sub prime mortgage market is relatively smaller than the US. The UK sub prime sector is also less likely to have major defaults because generally UK lending stuck to stricter criteria than in America. However, the main concern at the moment is that the US Sub prime woes are increasingly affecting the [...]

Research suggests that the top 10 Biggest mortgage lenders offer amongst the most expensive mortgage deals in the UK. The council of mortgage lenders made a list of the best 250 mortgage deals and then worked out what % of these deals were offered by the big companies. The top 10 lenders offered only 11% [...]

100% mortgages have become more popular in recent years for several reasons: Rising house prices means that it is more difficult to save up a suitable deposit. Rapid rise of house prices – If you saved £3,000 a year towards a deposit, you may find that house prices have risen by £10,000, meaning that you [...]

Recent evidence from the Council of mortgage lenders suggest that mortgage defaults in the UK have increased by 30% since this time last year. There have been 14,000 house repossessions in the first 6 months of the year. This is an average of 77 per day. The main reason for the growth in home repossessions [...]

UK mortgages have become increasingly expensive and are taking up a higher % of personal disposable income than ever before. This is due to the persistent rise in UK house prices. In the past 6 years UK house prices have more than doubled. The Council of Mortgage Lenders said first-time buyers spent 18.7 percent of [...]