Mortgage approvals in July totalled £1.9bn, the same as in June.

"Lending by mutual mortgage providers has picked up over the summer months, and the approvals figures suggest this level of lending may continue in the near future,” said Adrian Coles, Director-General of the BSA.

Variable rate mortgages remain the borrower's product of choice, according to new research from John Charcol.

The falling cost of fixed rate mortgages and forecasts of interest rates rising to 8% by 2012 have led to the suggestion that fixed rates might be the best way forward for borrowers.

Barclays is to launch its first loyalty mortgages on 1 September.

Current account customers will receive a reduction of up to 0.54 percentage points off selected tracker, fixed rate and offset mortgages. Customers with any of Barclays current accounts, including Premier, Additions and Graduate accounts, can be eligible for the special rates.

Net mortgage lending by the banks in the year to July increased by 4.1% - substantially ahead of the 0.9% for the whole mortgage market in June - according to the bankers’ association, BBA.

Mortgage lending by the main high street banks accounts for about two-thirds of all mortgage lending.

Nationwide is reducing rates by up to 0.20% on selected remortgage products from today, 20 August. The average cut will be 0.15%.

The two-year fixed rate is reduced by 0.19% to 3.39%, at up to 70% LTV, while the three-year fixed rate is reduced by 0.09% to 4.09%, also at 70% LTV.

Gross mortgage lending, including remortgaging, was up 5% in July compared with the previous month, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

This total was, however, 3% down on the same month last year, and the CML is predicting a “subdued” mortgage market for the rest of this year.

The Post Office has cut rates across its fixed rate, tracker and buy to let mortgages, with immediate effect. The reductions coincide with the launch of a new 65% LTV deal with a rate of 2.85%.

The fixed rate cuts apply on all ranges up to 85% LTV across two, three and five year options.  Lifetime trackers are reduced at 80%, 85%, and 90% LTV. 

The number of homes repossessed by mortgage lenders fell to 9,400 in the second quarter of the year. That was 400 fewer than in Q1, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Repossessions have now fallen for three quarters in a row, since they peaked at 12,100 last September.

Fixed rates had proved unpopular this year compared to the last several years, because of the all-time low bank rate, with little prospect of the rate rising. But with fixed rate prices falling they are starting to find favour again.

Coventry Building Society today reduced rates on two fixed-rate mortgage deals.

These include a reduced rate of 3.05% previously priced at 3.15% for 2 years at 60% LTV and 3.99% reduced to 3.75% for 3 years at 70% LTV.

From tomorrow, Friday 6 August, Nationwide will reduce rates by up to 0.30% on selected mortgages for remortgage and house purchase customers.

The biggest cuts are on mortgages available at up to 85% LTV and will, in particular, help customers with smaller deposits.  The average cut will be 0.19%. 

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society is launching fixed and discounted rate products with lower rates today Tuesday 3 August, and is introducing - for the first time at N&P - a "loyalty" mortgage for customers who hold any other product.

“Mortgage demand has been low for the first half of this year, but we are introducing very keen pricing and a special 2-year deal that's available to every existing N&P customer, regardless of what type of product they have with us.  We want to lend more in the second half of 2010 and will offer innovative deals to stimulate interest.," said Richard Barker, product manager at N&P.

Gross mortgage lending by mutuals totalled £1,798m in June, 19% more than the £1,507m lent in May, and 34% higher than the average of £1,345m over the previous five months, the Building Societies Association reported today, Thursday 29 July.

"Activity in the mortgage market has picked up compared to the start of the year, and the rising number of approvals is a positive indicator for coming months,” said Adrian Coles, Director-General of the BSA.

Barclays is reducing rates on its Woolwich mortgages (80% LTV) by up to 0.21 percentage points from Thursday 29 July, and at the same time is introducing a “drop lock” facility for all new mortgage customers.

The key reductions across the 80% LTV range include a cut of 0.21 percentage points on a two-year fixed from 4.59% to 4.38%, 0.10 percentage points reduction on the three- and five-year fixed rates (three year 4.89% to 4.79% and five year 5.49% to 5.39%).

Leeds Building Society has re-entered the self-build market, with the launch of a new variable product specifically designed to help people build their own homes.

Funds are released in five stages, which are Land Purchase, Wall Plate, Roofed In, Plastered Out and Completed. The Society will release up to 75% of the value for each, to help self-build customers to manage their outgoings and cash-flow. Borrowers only repay the amount they have borrowed and can access funds at each stage of the build.

There has been a 24% increase in the number of potential homebuyers seeking  advice from a whole-of-market mortgage broker In the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year, according to unbiased.co.uk, the professional advice website.

Unbiased,, which hosts a ‘find a mortgage adviser' search on its website, received more than 45,000 enquiries for mortgage advice in the first half of 2010, with first-time buyer advice coming top of the enquiries received. The first half of 2009, in comparison, saw just over 36,000 enquiries for a whole-of-market mortgage adviser.

Yorkshire Building Society is launching two new mortgage deals for customers who need to borrow up to 90% of the value of their home.

The two-year fixed rate product charges 5.19%, and the three-year version is at 5.89%. Both carry a £495 fee and include a free standard valuation and free legal service for those buying a property, or free standard valuation and £250 cashback for those looking to remortgage.

First-time buyers accounted for just 5.4% of those securing a mortgage last month, according to independent mortgage advisers John Charcol.

This was the lowest percentage recorded since December 2008, suggesting that strict lending criteria and nervousness about future prospects are limiting the number of new entrants to the housing market.

Mortgage lending was 15% higher in June than in the previous month, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Gross mortgage lending was an estimated £13.1bn, up from £11.4bn in May. The figure for June last year was £12.2bn.

Coventry Building Society launched a new range of mortgage products today, including two Flexx Capped deals which allow unlimited over-payments and no early repayment charges.

The product details are:

Yorkshire Building Society is reducing the rate on its five-year fixed rate mortgage to 3.99% for borrowers with a 25% deposit.  The new product, available from 23 July, will offer the lowest rate for a five-year fixed deal ever offered by the Society.

The new product, which also has a £995 fee, will be available at any of the Yorkshire's 135 branches or through the Society's full interactive website, www.ybs.co.uk.

The FSA proposes to set affordability tests for all mortgages and make lenders ultimately responsible for assessing a consumer's ability to pay.

In other words, that will be the end of self-certification mortgages.

Kent Reliance Building Society is in talks with US private equity investor J C Flowers on selling a stake in the Chatham-based society. The deal, which would involve setting up a new holding company, could be worth up to £50m.

KRBS needs the money, and the attraction for Flowers is that it would get a UK bank licence. The US firm bid unsuccessfully for Northern Rock in 2007.

Skipton Building Society is launching a two-year fixed rate product at  2.99% on Monday 12 July.

The new Limited Edition 2-Year Fix, which has no product fee, is available at up to 60% loan-to-value and a maximum loan of £1m. It is the latest step in the Society's plan to gradually increase lending during the course of 2010.

Santander is reducing the rates on its two and five-year fixed mortgages from tomorrow, 8 July.
The new rates are as follows:

-  Five-year fixed reduced to 5.25% (previously 5.44%) and up to 75% LTV with a £799 fee available to all homebuyers

Leeds Building Society has launched a 5-year fixed mortgage range that includes the facility to pay off up to 10% of the capital each year, without penalty, and offers £1,000 cash back on completion.

There is no higher lending charge and the mortgage is fully portable.

Yorkshire Building Society is to lend first-time buyers up to 90% of a property's value.

The First Time Buyer exclusive 2-year fixed rate product at 5.99% has a number of incentives, including:

Gross mortgage lending by mutuals totalled £1.508bn in May, an 8% increase on the £1.399bn lent in April, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA).

Mortgage loans approved (but not yet made) in May were £1.571bn, similar to the £1.527bn approved in April.

A crackdown by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on firms dealing with mortgage arrears and sale and rent back customers will begin next week.

Sale and rent back companies often appeal to consumers who are facing repossession or need cash quickly, and there have been complaints of misleading advertising, low valuations and extremely short-term tenancy agreements. An investigation revealed that “unscrupulous” firms were using high pressure sales techniques to persuade people to sell their property to them, often at a big discount, in return for an offer to let them stay in their home for a set period as a tenant.

The number of mortgages approved for house purchases increased to 36,709, their highest level so far this year, in May, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA), whose members account for 75% of new mortgage lending.

The number of home loans approved for house purchases was 35,729 in April, up 685 on March.

Barclays is to reduce rates on its Woolwich mortgages by up to 0.70% from Wednesday 23 June.

This follows the announcement earlier this month that Barclays is offering mortgages at 90% lending for customers buying a new Bovis Homes property, narrowing the gap between 70% and 90% mortgage rates. The deal for consumers purchasing from Bovis Homes is fixed for two years at 4.99%.

Gross mortgage lending increased by 7% in May, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The total advanced was £11.3bn, which was 10% more than in the same month last year.

Despite these increases, the CML pointed out that new lending this year has been low by historical standards. Tax increases and public spending cuts to be announced in next week's emergency Budget would probably act as further dampers on lending, it added.

The 4.99% offer from Yorkshire BS is an attractive looking rate and is currently a best buy, with fewer than 40% of mortgage lenders now charging a SVR lower than this, says. Andrew Hagger from Moneynet.co.uk.

“Apart from ease of budgeting, one of the main plus points of a 10-year fixed rate are that you only have one lending fee to pay out compared with five separate fees if you opt for a ‘switch every two years' strategy.

Mortgage lending increased by 2% in April, compared with the previous month, according to Bank of England figures.

The number of house purchase mortgages totalled 49,871, up 49,008 in March.

Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham & Gloucester are taking the ceiling off their  standard variable rate (SVR) for new borrowers from 1 June.

The current ceiling is 3.99%, and current borrowers revert to an SVR of just 2% above bank base rate – i.e. 2.5%.

Even though mortgage rates are being cut, lending criteria are steadily being loosened and product availability is improving – all of which appear to make a perfect platform for a resurgence in a struggling mortgage market - it looks as if there is still little incentive for borrowers to commit to a new deal, says financial information site Moneyfacts.

Since the Bank base rate hit 0.50% nearly 15 months ago, many existing borrowers have seen their interest rate fall. Some have been overpaying their mortgage with any gains, while others are doing more by off-loading their savings pot into their mortgage as well.

There was little sign of the traditional "spring bounce" in mortgage lending during April, according to figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

The number of loans approved for house purchases stood at 35,729 in April, up just 685 on March. The average for the previous six months was 39,309.

The Co-operative Bank and Britannia are launching a new range of mortgages, including a two-year fixed rate at 2.95% and a five-year fixed rate at 3.99%, on Wednesday 26 May.

Both are at 75% loan-to-value and with a £999 application fee.

Gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £10.2bn in April, down 12% from £11.6bn in March and 1% from £10.3bn in April 2009, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
This is the lowest April total since 2000 (£9.3bn).

A slight seasonal decline was expected as Easter fell in April this year. Gross lending remains broadly in line with the CML’s forecast for lending of £150bn for 2010 as a whole.

Leeds Building Society has launched a mortgage that offers borrowers a combination of a fixed rate followed by a Base Rate Tracker – which it claims is unique.

Borrowers also benefit from a free valuation and free in-house legal services for remortgages, there is no higher lending charge and 10% capital repayments are allowed each year.

Mortgage lending via intermediaries accounted for 62% of total mortgage lending in the first three months of the year, by both volume and value, according to figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The figures “highlight the value that homebuyers and re-mortgagers continue to place on the expertise and service levels offered by the mortgage broker community,” said the Investment Management Association.

Lending for house purchase increased by 45% year-on-year in March, making it the ninth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, according to figures released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Remortgaging was, however, 29% down year-on-year, the 23rd consecutive annual fall.

The buy-to-let sector is beginning to stage a fight back, according to research by Moneyfacts Group.

The credit crunch dealt a severe blow to the BTL market, which at its lowest point in September last year had diminished by 95% when compared with its peak in August 2007.

Lloyds Bank, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, is cutting back on interest-only mortgages, by insisting that customers seeking to borrow more than £500,000 must make capital repayments. The risk that interest-only borrowers will not be able to repay the loan when the time comes is perceived as too high.

People taking out interest-only mortgages through Halifax or Cheltenham and Gloucester, both now part of Lloyds Banking Group, will also have to pay a levy of 0.2 of a percentage point.

The Post Office is launching a new range of 90% loan-to-value mortgages tomorrow, 13 May, with two-year fixed rates from 5.45%.

In addition, Post Office Mortgages is offering 85% LTV deals and has cut rates across its other mortgages for the fifth time this year.

Stafford Railway Building Society is suggesting that guarantor mortgages could be the solution for first-time buyers who lack a sufficiently substantial deposit.

But Mike Heenan, chief executive of SRBS, cautions that both guarantors and buyers must be sure that the guarantor option is the right solution at the outset.

The number of mortgage products available has increased to 2,948 from only 1,686 in July 2009, but more than a quarter of them are restricted to existing customers, according to independent financial research company Defaqto.

"While it is no surprise to see that almost 10% of mortgages are restricted to lenders' existing mortgage borrowers, there has been a noticeable move by the major lenders to launch mortgage deals that are only available to their current account holders," said Kevin Bray, Insight Analyst for Banking at Defaqto.

The average shelf life of a current mortgage deal now stands at 30 working days, the longest since August 2007, when the market was weighed down with 9,549 products.

This, as financial information site Moneyfacts points out, may be an indication that the end of a volatile mortgage market is nigh – or lenders may simply be waiting patiently to see what the intentions of a new government are. 

Approvals were also stronger, at £1,677m, compared to £1,389m in February - a 21% increase.

Mortgage rates, which peaked in August 2009, have been falling steadily ever since.

Today the average two-year fixed mortgage - the barometer of the mortgage market - stands at its lowest level for 12 months, with the average three- and five-year fixed rate mortgages not far behind.

Saffron has three new products available for borrowers looking to move or remortgage, including first-time buyers:

HSBC is launching a Split Loan Mortgage which allows customers to fix a proportion of their mortgage, while the rest of the loan remains variable, tracking the Bank of England base rate for the life of the loan.

The loan is designed to appeal to customers facing the dilemma of whether to keep tracking to preserve the flexibility to make overpayments, or benefit from the security of locking into the historically low fixed mortgage rates.

Coventry building society today launched a capped base rate tracker mortgage, which it says combines all of the best features of a base rate tracker and a fixed rate mortgage: a low starting rate and protection if interest rates start to rise.

The starting rate of base rate +2.49% is capped at 3.99% until 30 June 2012. The current rate is 2.99%.

LloydsTSB is offering current account customers a 0.2% reduction on its mortgage interest rates from today. It is available to any LloydsTSB current account customers who deposit £1,000 or more each month and are taking out a new LloydsTSB mortgage.

In the first year, on a 3.99% fixed rate repayment mortgage of £150,000, reduced to 3.79%, LloydsTSB current account customers could save £197. On a 3.99% interest-only payment mortgage of £150,000, reduced to 3.79%, a LloydsTSB current account customer could save £301 in the first year.

Gross mortgage lending was up 24% at about £11.5bn in March, compared with £9.3bn in February, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).  March’s figure was 3% higher than the same month last year, when it stood at a low of £11.2bn.

Gross lending for the first quarter of 2010 was an estimated £29.5bn, 24% down on Q4 of 2009 (£38.9bn) and 9% down on Q1 of 2009, when it totalled £32.4bn. This is the lowest quarterly lending total since Q1 of 2000, but is in line with the CML’s forecast of a gross lending total of £150bn this year.

Coventry Building Society has launched two Flexx fixed-rate mortgages, which it claims are the only ones on the market to allow borrowers to overpay as much as they like with no penalty.

These products give borrowers the chance to protect themselves from any increases in interest rates. They are a two-year Flexx fixed rate at 3.99% and 65% loan to value; and a three-year Flexx fixed rate at 4.49% and 75% loan to value.

Barclays’ Woolwich mortgages have cut their tracker and fixed rate range from today, Wednesday 7 April, by an average of 0.30%. The largest reductions are on 75% loan-to-value (LTV) products.

The new range includes a lifetime tracker at 2.49% [Barclays base rate + 1.99%, with 70% LTV]; rate cuts of up to 0.60% on the two-year fixed rate to 3.69% [75% LTV], and a reduction of 0.50% on the three-year fixed rate to 3.99% [70% LTV].

There were 49% fewer house purchase loans in January than in December, but only 15% fewer remortgage loans, according to data released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

This emphatically demonstrates the effect on the mortgage market of the end of the temporary stamp duty holiday in December, the CML says.

The number of mortgages available has gone up by 6% over the past month, according to the financial information service Moneyfacts.

There were 1,798 mortgage deals requiring deposits of up to 40% on offer at the beginning of March - 68% more than a year ago.

The number of mortgages approved fell by 17% in January, according to figures from the Bank of England.

The total of 48,198 was the lowest number for eight months - but still 43% higher than in January last year.

There are 2,716 mortgage products currently available - a 14% increase since the beginning of the year, and the highest number since May 2009, according to moneysupermarket.com.

At the same time there has been a 98% increase in the number of mortgages available at 85% loan-to-value (LTV) in the past year: from 206 in February 2009 to 404 now.

Mortgage lending in January was relatively weak, some 17.5% lower than a year ago, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reports today. This was a reaction to the inflated December market and the adverse weather conditions which impacted on activity.

Lending was boosted in December as borrowers pushed through transactions ahead of the removal of stamp duty relief.

There could be a second credit crunch next year, when mortgage lenders have to start paying back the money they borrowed from the Government to bail them out the first time around.

The result could be that the timidly reviving housing market – prices went up 3.2% in the four weeks to 6 February, according to the Rightmove website - would plummet again.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)’s decision to leave the Base Rate unchanged at 0.5% and not to extend its Quantitative Easing (QE) programme has implications for the mortgage market, according to Ray Boulger of independent mortgage adviser John Charcol.

"We are now around four months into the trend of mortgage rates gently falling, with lenders generally cutting just some of their fixed and tracker rates, rather than most or all their products, at any one time.

Standard variable rate mortgages range from a high of 12.5% charged by Cheshire Mortgage Corporation to a low of 2% from Direct Line, according to research by Largemortgageloans.com. The industry average is 4.79% across 62 lenders.

GE Money Home Lending’s igroup charges the second highest SVR at 8.59%, while Lloyds, Nationwide and Cheltenham & Gloucester are joint second lowest at 2.50%.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published new rules designed to protect homeowners from being charged excessive penalties by lenders when they fall into arrears with their mortgages.

The FSA is also insisting that lenders must only consider repossessing a property as a very last resort.

"Whilst the split between variable and fixed, at face value, seems dramatic, it is really no surprise, as it is absolutely our belief that the best value lies in tracker rates at present.  With the average difference between the best fixed rates and the initial rate on the best trackers around 1.5% in favour of trackers, it will currently take a substantial rise in bank rate for a borrower who takes a tracker to be worse off than one who opts for a fixed rate," said Ray Boulger of John Charcol.

Woolwich, which is owned by Barclays, is tomorrow, 20 January, reducing rates on its tracker range by up to 0.20 percentage points - its sixth rate reduction in a row.

The range includes lifetime trackers at up to 70% loan-to-value at either 2.63% (Barclays base rate + 2.13%) with a £999 fee or 2.99% without fee, and lifetime trackers at up to 75% LTV at 2.89% (Barclays base rate +2.39%) with a £999 fee, or 3.19% without fee.

Mortgage approvals in November were at their highest level since March 2008, according to Bank of England figures.

A total of 60,518 mortgages were approved for house purchases, compared with 57,718 in October.

The number of mortgage products available has grown by 13% since August, when they reached their lowest point, according to moneysupermarket. However, the total number available is still 27% down since the start of the year.

In January 2009 there were 3,384 mortgage products available. This fell to a low of 2,182 in August, and has since steadily risen to 2,430. The most significant growth has been in 85% Loan to Value (LTV) products, which have grown by a third since January.

Gross mortgage lending totalled about £12bn in November, down 10% from the £13.3bn recorded in October, and its lowest level since May, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).The total was 14% less than the £13.9bn lent in November last year.

A modest seasonal decline between October and November is typical, although the 10% fall is a little larger than normal. The underlying story, though, is one of market conditions holding steady and the CML does not expect this position to change much in the coming months.

The popularity of fixed-rate mortgages declined even further in November, according to mortgage adviser John Charcol: just over a fifth of the company’s clients - 21.3% - chose a fixed rate.

That was five percentage points lower than the October figure, and most clients who opted for a fixed rate took a 2-year fix, with nearly all the rest choosing a 5-year deal.

From today, 11 December, Abbey is lowering some of its fixed rate mortgage range, and will also launch new three year and five year fixed rate mortgage products, available through both Abbey and Alliance & Leicester branches.

- New three year fixed, 75% LTV mortgage with a £995 booking fee at 4.29%, available to remortgage customers who complete before the 26 February 2010. This product offers a 0.10% discount to the standard three year fixed remortgage product.

The Post Office has reduced the interest rates on its two of its fixed-rate mortgages and its tracker, with immediate effect.

All the mortgage products have a fixed arrangement fee of £599, and the revert rate, which borrowers switch to after their initial rate expires, is currently 2.49%. 

HSBC has decided to drop its arrangement with John Charcol whereby the mortgage broker offered whole-of-market advice to customers visiting HSBC branches.

The experiment, launched in 20 branches in March this year, comes to an end on 18 December, despite being successful and popular with customers.

The number of mortgage deals on offer increased by 5%, to 1,425, over the past month, according to the financial information service Moneyfacts.

This makes the highest number on offer since December last year.

Mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 57,345 in October, about 1,000 more than the previous month and 18% higher than a year ago, according to the Bank of England.

This was 11th consecutive monthly increase, putting new mortgages at their highest level since March 2008 – but still well below pre-recession levels.

Leeds Building Society has launched a 2-year fixed rate mortgage at 3.79%. There is no higher lending charge and 10% capital repayments are allowed each year without penalty.

There is also a £199 booking fee and an £800 completion fee up to £500,000,and 1% of the loan amount above that figure.

Coventry Building Society today (26 November) launched a new mortgage product range, with rates lowered by up to 0.66%.

The Coventry offers Fixed, Tracker and Flexx products in its Residential, Offset & Buy to Let ranges, as well as offering a variety of different Loan to Value levels and arrangement fee options.

The Treasury proposed today to extend the scope of FSA mortgage regulation to cover second-charge mortgages, buy-to-let mortgages, and the sale of mortgage books to third parties, provoking the following mixed response from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML):

“The CML supports an extension of FSA regulatory scope to second-charge lending - indeed, the CML argued before FSA mortgage regulation was introduced in 2004 that it should cover all secured lending, not just first-charge mortgages.

The net increase in bank mortgage lending was £3.1bn in October, the same as in the previous month, but higher than the average of £2.7bn over the previous six months.

The average monthly rise in this period over the last decade has been 5%, so the October figure was typical.

Ipswich Building Society has launched a two-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.64%, with a loan-to-value of 85% for both purchase and remortgage.

The application fee is £150 and the completion fee is £999, which can be added to the loan.

Some specialist mortgage lenders have been so reckless that between 30% and 60% of their borrowers are now in arrears, according to Jon Pain of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Speaking to the annual conference of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) in London, Mr Pain was defending the FSA's plan to bring in new rules to restrict mortgage lending, which was put out to consultation last month.

While lenders originally reduced rates following the drop in bank base rate to 0.50%, they increased them again in the following months.

From today, 10 November, Abbey is promising to reward loyal customers with lower rates on mortgages.

Existing Abbey and Alliance & Leicester current account customers who have held their account for more than six months will be entitled to benefit from new deals available in branch or on the telephone for a limited period.

Nationwide has cut fixed and tracker rates on some mortgage deals from Friday 6 November 2009.

"We are making 19 individual rate cuts of up to 0.31% on some of our house purchase and remortgage products.  This, together with the special offers we recently announced for first time buyers and house purchasers, will be good news for those trying to get on the housing ladder or secure a new home," said Andy McQueen, mortgage director at Nationwide.

Mortgage lenders are gradually reducing the size of the deposit they require from prospective borrowers, according to financial information service Moneyfacts.

The number of mortgages requiring a 20% deposit has fallen from 136 to 117 in the past month, while the number requiring a minimum 15% deposit has increased from 189 to 226 – which is the largest number for more than a year.

Net mortgage lending increased by £0.9bn in September, weaker than the August figure of £1.3bn, but above the previous six-month average of £0.6bn, according to Bank of England figures, released today, 29 October.

The number of loan approvals for house purchase (56,215) was above the August figure (52,970) and above the previous six-month average, whereas approvals for remortgaging (25,528) were below the August figure of 28,348 and below the previous six-month average.

The news that Barclays is acquiring Standard Life Bank has attracted the following comment from Ray Boulger of mortgage broker John Charcol:

"Today's announcement isn't great news for consumers, as it means that one of the dwindling number of brands still active in the mortgage market may well disappear next year when the sale is concluded.

Leeds Building Society has launched a range of offset mortgages from 5.49%. Borrowers can access mortgage funding with a 15% deposit and there are other options for those requiring help with up-front costs.

The maximum loan to value on the 5.49% product has been increased from 60% to 80%, and  unlimited capital repayments are allowed. A 5-year fixed rate is available from only 5.50%. There are also versions of this product that only require a 15% deposit.

Woolwich, which is owned by Barclays, has cut the rates on its fixed-term mortgages by up to 0.5% as it launches a new range of two-,three- and five-year products.

Its two-year fixed-rate deal, with an 80% loan-to-value, has been reduced to 5.49% from 5.99%, plus a £999 fee.

Self-certification mortgages, in which borrowers do not have to provide evidence of their income, will be banned under proposals outlined today by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to tighten up regulation of the home loans market.

The FSA says that lenders should be required to verify borrowers' incomes, rather than just taking their word for it. 

First direct's launches two new fee-free offset tracker mortgages today. The first, with a 60% loan-to-value (LTV), tracks 2.49% above base rate (currently 2.99%).  The second, a 75% LTV deal, tracks 2.94% above base rate (currently 3.44%). Both are available for re-mortgages only.

Customers will not have to pay a booking fee, an arrangement fee, an exit fees (or closure admin fee), an early redemption penalty or a Standard Valuation Fee.

There was a slight drop in new mortgage lending in August, according to theCouncil of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The total number of loans for housed purchase fell by 5% to 53,000 during the month, as against 56,000 in July. But even that lower figure was 29% higher than in August last year.

Mortgages look set to get cheaper, as economic forecasters suggest that interest rates are set to remain at record lows for at least five years.

The Centre for Economic and Business Research predicts that the Bank of England will keep rates below 2% until 2014, keeping money cheap and sparking a price war between lenders.

That is bad news for savers, who have seen  their income slashed as the Bank of England has cut rates to just 0.5% over the past year.

Coventry Building Society is reducing rates and increasing LTV's on its range of residential and buy-to-let fixed-rate mortgages.

A new 2-year fixed-rate residential mortgage is now being offered at 3.87% available at 65% (up from 50%) LTV, with free valuation and free remortgage transfer service.

Some high-profile lenders have significantly cut their rates in the past few days. They include:

Abbey – Selected fixed rates reduced by up to 0.11%
Cheltenham & Gloucester - 5 year fixed rate (via intermediaries only) reduced by 0.20% to 5.99%
Nationwide - Selected variable tracker rates reduced by up to 0.36% and selected fixed rates for 1 and 2 years reduced by up to 0.70%
Northern Rock - Selected rates reduced by up to 0.30%
Woolwich - Lifetime tracker rate reduced by 0.45% to 2.79%

From today, Wednesday 7 October, Abbey is reducing some of its fixed-rate mortgage range by up to 0.11%, and new tracker rates are launched at 2.94%.

The new fixed rates are available through both Abbey and Alliance & Leicester branches and are as follows:

HSBC is extending its 1.99%, two-year discount mortgage offer until the end of October. 

The mortgage, which was launched on 1 September, led to the sale of a total of £245m of discount mortgages during September alone, the company says.

More than half (53%) of borrowers who say they are on a tracker mortgage are still not taking advantage of historic low interest rates to overpay on their loan, according to professional advice website Unbiased.co.uk.

Of the tracker mortgage borrowers surveyed, just one in five (20%) have kept repayments at the levels they were before the round of rate cuts earlier this year, enabling them to take full advantage of the opportunity to reduce the amount outstanding and the term of their mortgage.

Lending for house purchase showed a year-on-year growth in July for the first time since early 2007, according to the latest Council of Mortgage Lenders' (CML) survey.

Total gross lending rose significantly, to £14.5bn, the second consecutive monthly rise. But it was still 42% lower than in July last year.

A government campaign to provide information for homeowners struggling to meet their mortgage payments was launched today, 8 September.

The information campaign, which seeks to help borrowers stay in their homes by taking control of their payment problems, reinforces key messages from lenders to mortgage customers: don't ignore the problem; get help by talking to your lender; it's never too early to contact your lender to talk about your worries.

HSBC's new mortgage range features its lowest ever interest rate - 1.99% on a two-year discount loan - available to customers with a deposit of 40% of their property value.

The range of new loans includes a second two-year discount mortgage for customers with at least a 25% deposit at an interest rate of 2.49%. Both discount mortgages have arrangement fees of £1,199 and are discounted from HSBC standard variable rate (currently 3.94%).

Banks took in more than they lent out in July, for the first time on record. The net repayment figure was £418m, even though mortgage approvals increased for the sixth month in succession, according to the Bank of England.

The number of loans for house purchase was 50,123, up 5% on June, and for remortgaging 35,206, both above the average for the previous six months. This suggests that lenders are becoming less reluctant to part with their money.

A growing number of borrowers with good credit records are falling into arrears with their mortgage payments, according to a report by the Moody’s rating agency.

Arrears of more than 90 days on prime residential mortgages have doubled since last year, from 0.9% in the second quarter of 2008 to 1.8% in the same period this year.

The recent steep rise in the cost of fixed-rate mortgages has hit their popularity hard, according to the John Charcol Index, the monthly mortgage activity monitor produced by mortgage adviser John Charcol.

"The popularity of fixed rates with our clients has been on a roller coaster since the beginning of last year,” said Ray Boulger of John Charcol.

There were 38,181 mortgage approvals by the major banks in July, 7.4% up on June and 77% more than a year ago, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

The number of loans approved for house purchase in July was the highest since February 2008.

Almost one in four (23%) of mortgage holders are currently only paying off the interest on their loan, according to research from moneysupermarket.

As mortgage interest rates have fallen dramatically over the last 12 months, the cost of switching to capital repayment with the same lender and on the same terms would only be around £25, moneysupermarket says. Current interest-only borrowers would see their repayments increase by around £50 per month over what they were paying 12 months ago. Over the 300-month life of the mortgage, this switch would save approximately £40,000.

Mortgage lending increased by 26% in July, to about £16bn, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Despite the latest rise, lending was still more than a third lower than in July last year, when it stood at £24.9bn, and the CML expects the housing market to dip again later this year.

Almost a third of homeowners are now staying on their lender's standard variable rate (SVR), according to new research from Unbiased.co.uk, the professional advice website.  The number on SVR has  increased from 23% earlier in 2009 to 27%, highlighting that more homeowners are now sitting tight on their low-rate SVR, rather than remortgaging to a fixed rate.

When describing their current mortgage situation, one in four (25%) of homeowners state they are on their lender's SVR and have no plans to change this.  This rose to over one in three (36%) of those aged 55 and over.  With best buy standard variable rates generally remaining lower than best buy fixed rate mortgage deals in the current market place, it appears homeowners may not be considering a move to a fixed rate unless the base rate starts to rise.

Restrictions on access to mortgage finance is preventing as many as 3.5m British households from moving, according to mortgage broker John Charcol. That figure represents a third of all residential mortgages. Lack of equity in the property is another factor trapping them in their current home.

There are currently around 2m households either in negative equity or with equity of less than 10%, and 500,000 households with equity of between 10% and 15%. A further 1m households have either sub prime or self-certified mortgages.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) says it expects a rush of claims against mortgage brokers in 2009/10, after banking failures saw it pay out more than £21bn in total in the last financial year.

In its latest annual report, the FSCS said 2008/9 was the first time the scheme had started paying claims against brokers since mortgage advice and arranging came under regulation in 2004.

Mortgage approvals increased to 47,584 in June, from 44,169 in the previous month, according to figures from the Bank of England. It was the highest number of approvals for house purchases since April 2008, and the fifth successive month that approvals have gone up.

Although these are further signs of a pick-up in the housing market, the figures are well below the levels seen during the property boom. Demand for housing is still being constrained by the continuing shortage of credit, and also by a widespread feeling that prices still have some way to fall before the market bottoms out.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) has hit back at claims that mortgage rates and profits have soared in recent months while base rate has remained at an all-time low.

Banks’ costs have risen "substantially", and they have been obliged to increase their reserves to twice the world average, according to BBA chief executive, Angela Knight.

The steep fall in available mortgage products has continued, despite previous claims of ‘green shoots' in the housing market, figures from moneysupermarket.com show.

The tracker mortgage market has been the worst hit, with the number of available products falling 81% since July last year, while the number of fixed-rate mortgages has fallen by 46%.

There were modest increases in gross and net mortgage lending in June, as a result of more new home loans being approved in recent months, according to figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), released on 23 July.

“Numbers of new home loans approved by the high street banks are recovering from the very low level last November and so far this year, gross mortgage lending has topped £50bn. After
repayments and redemptions, the banks’ net rise in mortgage lending of £18bn in the first six
months is in sharp contrast to lending by the rest of the market, which is still contracting,” said BBA statistics director, David Dooks.

The withdrawal this week of Manchester Building Society’s 30-year fixed-rate mortgage means that borrowers can no longer fix their mortgage repayments for more than 15 years.

Two years ago, the Prime Minister prompted a number of lenders to offer longer-term fixes by saying that they would help to reduce the volatility in the housing market. But now the market has disappeared.

Mortgage lending rose sharply in June compared with the previous month, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The total was up 17% to £12.3bn in June, from £10.5bn during the previous month.

However, the figure was 48% down on the £24.8bn advanced for home loans in June last year.

 
Gross lending in the second quarter of 2009 totalled an estimated £33.3bn, unchanged from the first quarter, which was the lowest quarterly reading since the first quarter of 2001. 

First-time buyers are taking advantage of the recent falls in house prices to step on to the housing ladder, despite the need for a huge deposit.

Research from the comparison website Moneysupermarket.com found 13% of 18-34 year olds are considering buying their own home in the next 12 months. A quarter of first-time house hunters have the deposit saved already; no mean feat when you consider the average deposit for a first time buyer is £32,000.

Nationwide Building Society has announced it will allow customers to take out loans worth 125% of the value of a home, if the customer is in negative equity and wants to move. The scheme works by allowing the borrower to take out a loan for 95% of the new property's value at a fixed rate of 6.73% for three years or 7.48% for five years. 

Nationwide Building Society has announced it will cut the price of fixed rate mortgages by up to 0.99% - but only for existing borrowers who are switching at the end of their Nationwide deal.  The offer, which takes effect from 9 July this year, includes the following range of mortgage options:

Financial services companies must make sure their customers understand what they are letting themselves in for when they sign up for mortgages, consumer loans and other products, under new OECD guidelines, entitled Good practices on financial education and awareness relating to credit, which are designed to avoid a repeat of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and ensuing credit crunch that sent the world economy into recession.

"Even in the absence of the crisis, developments in financial markets, demographics, economic and policy changes all point to the importance of financial education and enhanced financial consumer protection,” said André Laboul, Head of the Financial Affairs Division of the OECD.

Of those who did seek advice, two-thirds (65%) went to their mortgage lender, while one in four went to Citizens' Advice (CAB). Consumer experience of lenders' advice was mixed: some felt their mortgage lender was unhelpful and inflexible, whiler others felt their provider did all they could reasonably do to help them.

Mortgage repayments in the first three months of this year totalled a record £8.14bn, according to the Bank of England.

Repayments for the year to the end of March came to £76bn.

The mortgage is currently priced at 2.98% (3.2%APR) and offers new customers customers the security of being capped at 4.99% until 2012.

Gross mortgage lending by building societies has fallen like a stone, according to new figures published by the Building Societies Association (BSA).  In May, the mutual sector lent £1,515m, compared to £3,530m in May 2008.

Borrowers are more hesitant to take up fixe-rate deals, as lenders hike up their prices by an average 0.6%, while trackers rates, which have largely been avoided in recent months, are now being cut by around 0.3%. The conundrum has meant that, whereas 75% of borrowers had been taking fixed rates, the number has dropped this week to 64%, says broker Mortgageforce.  

Almost 90% of borrowers fixed their mortgage rate in the second quarter of 2009, according to Legal & General’s Mortgage Purchase Index report, which analyses trends from thousands of mortgage applications made through its Mortgage Club.

Leeds Building Society is offering a new five-year fixed rate mortgage available from 5.1%. There is no higher lending charge, it includes free in-house legal services for remortgages and 10% capital repayments are allowed each year, without penalty.

Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £10.3 billion in May, a 2% decline from the £10.5 billion in April and down 58% from May 2008, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. 

 

Fixed-rate mortgages have been falling for nearly two years, but experts are now warning they are about to start creeping up again. After a statement issued by Ray Boulger at broker, John Charcol earlier this week, Moneysupermarket.com has also put out a warning to borrowers.

There was a 16% increase in mortgages granted for house purchases in April, compared with the previous month, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

But the number of loans – 35,600 - was still 28% lower than in April 2008. Over the past seven years, the average number of loans granted in April averaged 88,000.

Nationwide is set to increase the cost of its fixed-rate mortgage deals from Friday 12 June, broker John Charcol  revealed today. All its fixed-rate deals are undergoing a re-pricing, with the biggest increase being 0.86% on one of its five-year fixes. This will increase the cost of a £150,000 interest-only mortgage by £6,450 over a five-year period, said the broker. 

Providers are increasing average mortgage rates, and the margin above the Libor rate is rising, even though Base Rate remains at 0.5%, according to moneysupermarket – which accuses the Bank of England of being “increasingly toothless” when it comes to regulating the cost of mortgages, with lenders increasing profit margins at the expense of their customers.

Moneysupermarket figures indicate that the average rate for the lowest tracker mortgage has gone from 0.22% above Libor in October 2008 to 1.99% in May this year, while the average two-year fixed rate has gone from 0.33% above to 2.20%, and the average three-year fix has gone from 0.16% above Libor to 2.78% above.

Britannia building society is re-introducing a 90% loan-to-value option across its mortgage range from next week.

Borrowers can choose between two-, three-, five-, 10- and 15-year fixed-rate deals, with a choice of three LTV bands (up to 60%, up to 75% and up to 90%).

HSBC is reintroducing its Rate Matcher mortgage offer from Monday 8 June. It offers to match or beat existing mortgage rates as low as 2.49%, and fix them for up to five years. Under the offer all UK homeowners can apply, irrespective of their existing mortgage arrangement.

Remortgage activity among homeowners has slowed dramatically since base rates started falling to their current historic low. Borrowers have struggled to better their lenders' standard variable rates (SVR), and although keen to fix, they have balked at fixed rate options at close to double what they would pay on a variable basis. The Rate Matcher offer enables homeowners to switch and fix at less than their lender's SVR or a rate of their choice.

"Gross mortgage lending by building societies was still 60% lower than gross lending in April a year earlier. Although also at low levels, building society mortgage approvals (which give some indication of future lending activity) were 14% higher in April than in March, after adjusting for seasonal factors.

The balance has tipped in favour of longer-term fixed rates, according to a report published by broker Mortgageforce.  It found that 56% of fixed rates taken out in May were three-year deals or longer.

Other features include free standard legal and basic valuation fees for remortgages, the facility to make overpayments and underpayments and to take payment holidays for home purchases and remortgages. There is a 3% early repayment charge for the initial tracker period.

One of the two-year fixes, at 3.49% (3.7% APR), has no arrangement fee but a booking fee of £99. The other, at 2.99% (3.8% APR), has a £999 arrangement fee and booking fee of £499.

Despite recent signs of improvement in levels of mortgage lending among banks and building societies, figures for April are down again, according to data published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. 

Lloyds TSB has announced a new mortgage for first-time buyers called Lend a Hand. The deal offers a three-year fixed rate at 4.39% for just a 5% deposit. But in return parents’ savings – which must be equivalent to an additional 20% of the property value – must be held in an account with the bank.

The average two-year fix went from 4.61% a month ago to 4.64%, while the average five-year fix rose from 5.54% to 5.55%. The rate for a 10-year fix went from 5.74% to 5.78%.

HSBC has announced it is introducing a market-leading five-year fixed rate mortgage priced at 4.39% from 14 May. The deal comes with a fee of £999, on loans of up to 75% of the property value. The next lowest comparable mortgage is 4.59% with the Mansfield Building Society, says the bank.

Speaking at the FSA's mortgage conference, Lord Turner said that the FSA's detailed analysis of the mortgage market was highlighting a very complex situation, in which the FSA had to take account of short-term trends as well as designing the appropriate long-term policy.

Woolwich - the mortgage lending arm of Barclays - has announed cuts in the price of its fixed-rate mortgage deals. Existing and new  customers can now sign up for two years at a rate of 3.69% for loans of up to 70% loan-to-value (a reduction of 0.40 percentage points on the previous deal) and at 4.99% for loans up to 80% LTV (a reduction of 0.70 percentage points).

Mortgage approvals increased by 4% in March, to 39,230, and the trend is set to continue, according to the Bank of England.

The total value of the loans was £4.6bn, well above the six-month average.

The average homeowner on tracker mortgage has netted a saving of £230 on their monthly repayment in the face of falling interest rates, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling said in his 2009 Budget on Wednesday.

Gross mortgage lending was up 16% in March, at £11.5bn, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) – which warned, however, that lending and house sales would remain low for the "foreseeable future."
 
The CML pointed out that the March figure was still less than half the amount lent in March 2008, and lending in the first quarter of this year was the lowest since early 2001.

Mortgage borrowers will be able to defer up to 70% of their interest payments for a maximum of two years if their income falls, under a government scheme, first announced last December, known as the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme (HMSS).

The plan, which is already under way, is one of several initiatives floated by the Government to avoid repossessions.

From 17 April, Alliance & Leicester, which is part of the Santander group, is extending its range of fee-free mortgages, with the launch of 3-and 4-year fixed-rate remortgage and homebuyer deals, which are available up to 75% loan-to-value.

The 3-year fix is at 4.69% and up to £550,000 for both homebuyers and remortgages.