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The number of properties sold for £1 million to £2 million in Britain fell for the first time in two years, but the number of properties sold for more than £2 million rose to the highest level on record. This is according to research by Lloyds TSB.

There were 1,518 property sales worth at least £2 million pounds in 2011, a rise of 5% from 1,442 sales in 2010. The highest number of sales since records began in 1995.

Sales of properties topping the £2 million pound mark were also 2% higher in 2011 than at the peak of the housing market in 2007 (1,484).

In addition, the number of properties selling for over £5 million rose by 22% from 128 in 2010 to 156 in 2011, providing further evidence of the strength of sales at the very top end of the market.

Over three-quarters (76%) of all £2 million pound plus sales in 2011 were in London (1,161), and more than half of all multi-million pound sales took place in just three boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden.

Suren Thiru, Lloyds TSB Housing Economist, commented on the figures: “The rise in the number of multi-million pound property sales over the past year compares to the weakening picture across the rest of the market, highlighting the strength at the very top end of the housing market.”

April 27, 2012

Bank of China has made changes to their market leading base rate tracker mortgages and they have withdrawn their private banking rate at 2% over bank base.

The bank continues to offer mortgages to a maximum of £10 million and at a rate of 2.30% over the Bank of England base rate.

Clients will need a 25% deposit for mortgages up to £500,000 and a 30% deposit for mortgages over £500,000. The arrangement fee varies from £1,295 to 1% of the loan amount, depending on the size of the mortgage.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “Bank of China has just told us that they are changing their rates. They have received an extremely high volume of enquiries and applications. The new rate at 2.8% is still particularly attractive, especially for large loans.”

Click here to view more information about Bank of China’s mortgage rates:  http://www.trinityfinancialgroup.co.uk/best-buys

April 27, 2012

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is contacting more than 76,000 people to let them know they are targets for fraudsters.

Their names appeared on a number of lists recovered from companies that the FSA believes were fraudulently selling investments in land or worthless, sometimes non-existent, shares.

Letters from the regulator will be arriving on people’s doormats from today. Most of the lists contain the names and addresses of the targets, but in 19,101 cases only email addresses are listed, therefore the FSA will be sending those people an email warning.

The letter explains how to spot a scam, avoid becoming a victim and what to do if you have already invested.

Jonathan Phelan, the FSA’s head of unauthorised business, said:  “If you get a letter or email from the FSA over the next five or six weeks, please read it – it could you save you tens of thousands of pounds.”

April 27, 2012

Nationwide Building Society says that their Confidence Index increased by nine points in March to 53, a nine month high and seven points higher than the same time last year.

The main index remains 23 pints below its long run average of 76.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “Much of the survey-based data has painted a more upbeat picture of the UK economy than official data in recent months – March’s Consumer Confidence index continues that trend.

The main Index jumped nine points in March, which is at odds with the challenging economic backdrop, with the UK economy tipping back into recession in the first three months of the year.

The full survey can be viewed here: http://goo.gl/JRBcH

April 27, 2012

London homebuyers pay approximately £27,000 more to buy a property within 500 metres of the nearest train or tube station. This is when compared to similar properties 1,500 metres from a station, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

Nationwide also says that property premiums appear to have increased since 2010 and houses closest to the Circle Line stations are the most expensive. Those nearest the Metropolitan Line are the cheapest.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “We examined how the proximity to a tube or railway station impacted property prices in Greater London after taking account of other property characteristics, such as property type, size and local neighbourhood type.

“Our research illustrates that people are willing to pay a significant premium to be close to a station, and suggests that this premium has increased relative to two years ago when we last explored the issue.

“A property located 500 metres from a station attracts a 9% price premium (approximately £27,000 on a typical London home) over an otherwise identical property 1,500 metres from a station.

“This price premium is two percentage points higher than when we conducted similar research in 2010, where the data suggested a 7% premium.”

April 20, 2012

There have been an unusually large number of banks and building societies changing their mortgage rates this week, and some of the biggest lenders have raised the cost of their mortgages. Santander, Lloyds TSB, Halifax and the Britannia Building Society are just some of the lenders included.

The average fixed rate increase was approximately 0.2% and a number of tracker rates have been raised by 0.10%.  Some of HSBC’s mortgages went up by 0.4%.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “During the last month many mortgage rates have increased, but there are still some very attractive deals available.

“Economists predict that base rate will stay on hold at 0.5% for at least 18 months and this makes tracker rates look particularly attractive.

“One of the most competitive mortgages that we can access is through the Bank of China. It tracks the Bank of England base rate for the term of the mortgage and the pay rate is 2.80%. The bank requires a 25% deposit and it has a £1,295 arrangement fee for loans up to £500,000.”

Trinity Financial can access NatWest current account customers a two-year fix at 2.89% with a £999 arrangement fee. The bank requires a 40% deposit.

Nationwide Building Society offers a five-year fix at 3.99% for borrowers with a 30% deposit. The arrangement fee is £995 or, £495 if you are a first-time buyer.

We were quoted in the BBC’s story covering the changes and you can read it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17782451

April 20, 2012

ING Direct has reduced its maximum loan-to-value for interest-only mortgages to 50% from 75%.

Borrowers will be able to secure an 80% loan-to-value mortgage partly on interest-only, although 30% of the mortgage will have to be taken on a capital repayment basis.

Cash ISA’s will no longer be acceptable as a plan to repay the mortgage, and if you would like to use the sale of the property as a repayment plan, you will need to have a minimum of £165,000 equity.

April 20, 2012

Demand from the first-time buyer market increased very slightly and hit a ten-month high in March, according to National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

The NAEA latest monthly housing market report found that the percentage of sales being made to first-time buyers increased from 23 per cent in February to 24 per cent in March. It last reached this level in May 2011.

The report also says that on average, estate agents branches had 297 house-hunters registered per branch in March compared with 293 in February.

Wendy Evans-Scott, President of the NAEA, said: “As our member agents predicted, the termination of the stamp duty holiday helped to fuel a last minute rush from people hoping to escape this tax on aspiration.

“It is clear that significant demand existed for this important tax break for those seeking to buy their first home. In light of these new figures, the Government’s decision to remove such vital financial support for what is an extremely fragile part of the housing market seems short-sighted.”

The NAEA also said that the number of registered sellers fell slightly in March, despite recent evidence that people asking a sensible price for their property are able to make a sale. The average branch had 61 properties on its books, compared to 63 in February.

April 20, 2012

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has seen an increase in the number of staff leaving after the announcement of their twin peaks regulatory model. They said that 430 employees left the regulator last year.

A freedom of information request by Money Marketing magazine shows that the number of staff leaving rose from 330 in 2010 to 430 in 2011, a turnover rate of 11%.

At the end of March 2012, the FSA had 3,385 employees.  Of those staff, 320 earn between £200,000 and £299,999 and fewer than 10 earned in excess of £300,000.

April 20, 2012

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is urging anyone who has still not done their 2010/11 tax return to send it online before the end of April, or be charged daily penalties from 1 May.

Anyone whose self- assessment return is more than three months late will now be charged a further £10 penalty for each day it remains outstanding, up to a maximum of 90 days. This is on top of the £100 late-filing penalty they have already received.

April 20, 2012

Some 14,000 former Bank of Ireland customers transferred to Nationwide Building Society last year have had their standard variable rate increase deferred until a later date. The lender previously wrote to customers advising them that their interest rate will jump from 2.99% to 4.79% in March.

A Nationwide spokeswoman told Mortgage Strategy magazine that: “We reserve the right to increase the standard variable rate, but the concession remains in place until further notice. We will write to clients when it is removed.”

April 20, 2012

Minutes from the latest monthly meeting of the Bank of England’s rate setting committee has revealed that all nine members voted to maintain interest rates at 0.5%.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on 4 and 5 April. Eight of the members also voted to maintain the size of the quantitative easing programme at £325 billion, although one member, David Miles, voted to increase the size of the initiative by an additional £25 billion.

If you would like a review of your mortgage or help to secure a mortgage to buy a property, call Trinity Financial on 020 7016 0790.

April 19, 2012

Mortgage arrears are rising across the UK, but borrowers in the north continue to struggle more than in the south, according to Standard & Poor’s latest research.

Using data from quarter four in 2011, data from a sample of 1.5 million mortgage loans backing UK residential mortgage-backed securities, S&P found that mortgage borrowers in the north of the country are about 30% more likely to be in arrears than those in the south.

If S&P’s findings are representative of the UK mortgage market as a whole, this would mean that the number of borrowers in negative equity has grown from 403,200 in the second quarter of 2010 to 627,200 in the last quarter of 2011.

Mark Boyce, a credit analyst at the ratings agency, said: “Our analysis also found that the equity positions of UK mortgage borrowers have deteriorated, and we estimate that about 5.6% were in negative equity in Q4 2011, up from 3.6% in Q2 2010.”

“As with arrears, we see a clear divergence between the north and south. At end-2011, about 8.5% of borrowers in the northern regions were in negative equity-that is, their mortgage loan balance exceeded the value of the securing property, up from 6.0%.

“Only 3.3% of southern borrowers were in this position in Q4 2011, compared with 1.5% in Q2 2010.”

April 13, 2012

Principality Building Society is the latest lender to make changes to their interest-only policy.

Borrowers planning to take one of the Principality’s interest-only mortgages will have a limited selection of rates to choose from, as they look to limit exposure to this type of lending.

The vast majority of their mortgages will be available on a full capital-repayment basis.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “We still have access to a number of lenders offering interest-only, but the choice is now drastically reduced unless you have a substantial deposit.

“Northern Rock has a competitive two-year fix at 3.59% and a low three-year fix is 3.89%. Both mortgages are available on interest only if you have a 30% deposit and they have £995 arrangement fees. The maximum loan size is £1 million.”

April 13, 2012

Bankers’ bonuses could be capped at no more than their fixed salaries under new plans by senior lawmakers, according a report in the Financial Times.

The story explains that EU parliamentarians are drawing up new caps on bonuses to be included in the bloc’s latest bank capital rules.

The move comes as research from pan-EU banking regulator “reveals huge disparities in bonus sizes across the region and big differences in enforcing EU pay rules, which limit the upfront cash portion of a bonus to 25 per cent of the total.”

April 13, 2012

The average age of a first-time buyer (ftb) is 30, according to the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks.

First-time buyers in Yorkshire are the youngest in the UK at 28 and the oldest are in Wales at 36.

The average ftb in London is 33 and 34 in the South East.

Trinity Financial has access to cheaper mortgage rates for anyone getting on the property ladder for the first time.  We can also access mortgages with a free property valuation and legals service – even on a house purchase.

Nationwide Building Society and Halifax offer first-time buyers a large discount on their mortgage arrangement fees.

April 13, 2012

Goldman Sachs has been fined $22m (£13.8m) by US regulators.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said that the bank lacked policies to prevent leaks from their weekly “huddles” on equity research.

April 13, 2012

The average mortgage arrangement fee has increased by over £300 or 27% during the last three years, according to Moneyfacts research.

The typical mortgage fee is now £1,502, compared to £1,181 in 2009.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “Mortgage lenders offer a full range of arrangement fees and you do not have to pay £1,502. The average fee maybe increasing, but there are a number of different options available.

“For example, the Nationwide Building Society only charge a £99 booking fee on their £1million plus mortgages.

“Most lenders also have fee free deals for borrowers with smaller mortgages, or higher fees for those with larger loans.”

April 13, 2012

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and Association of Lettings Agents (ARLA) have responded to the Governments consultation on institutional reform.

Landlords now have 30 days to put tenant’s deposits into a government approved scheme, after the law was changed last week. Tenants must also be given the Prescribed Information and Deposit Protection Certificate as proof the money is secure.

Mark Hayward, spokesperson for the NAEA and ARLA, is keen that regulation goes further. He says: “We agree that consumer protection is paramount, and nowhere is it more so than in the housing industry. We believe more needs to be done to safeguard consumers against rogue estate and lettings agents.

“Currently, there is no guarantee that consumers are getting good quality of service during the process of buying, selling, letting or renting a home. There is no requirement for estate or lettings agents to be qualified.

“To this end, we would like to see a review of the current estate agent “negative licensing” system – which means estate agents do not need a license. Negative licensing is wholly insufficient in protecting consumers against bad practice and we would far rather see formal, statutory regulation of estate agents – and lettings agents – be introduced.

“As the NAEA and ARLA, we have our own agent licensing and regulation schemes but while there is no uniform regulation scheme effective across the UK. Rogue agents that operate outside professional bodies like our own, will continue to take advantage of consumers.

“The most efficient way of implementing this kind of regulation would be for a single government agency to be set up to regulate both the sales and lettings industries. The Government has a prime opportunity to help consumers be consistently treated more fairly and we urge it to take action.”

April 13, 2012

Principality Building Society is the latest lender to make changes to their interest-only policy.

Borrowers planning to take one of the Principality’s interest-only mortgages will have a limited selection of rates to choose from, as they look to limit exposure to this type of lending.

The vast majority of their mortgages will be available on a full capital-repayment basis.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “We still have access to a number of lenders offering interest-only, but the choice is now drastically reduced unless you have a substantial deposit.

“Northern Rock has a competitive two-year fix at 3.59% and a low three-year fix is 3.89%. Both mortgages are available on interest-only if you have a 30% deposit and they have £995 arrangement fees. The maximum loan size is £1 million.”

April 13, 2012

NBNK has submitted a revised proposal to buy 632 Lloyds bank branches from the high-street giant. They are being forced to sell due to regulatory reasons.

Lloyds named The Co-operative as their preferred bidder in December, but the purchase has been delayed. Peter Marks, their chief executive, is quoted on the BBC website, suggesting that their bid could be in doubt because of “significant economic and regulatory issues.”

NBNK Investments plc is a financial investment company founded by Lord Levene and other senior business figures in 2010. The aim of the company is to build a new large UK retail bank, primarily through the acquisition of other banks.

April 13, 2012

Coventry Building Society has made improvements to their mortgage range and they now offer some extremely competitive fixed and tracker rates.

Their five-year fix is priced at 3.99% and the five-year base rate tracker is competitive at 3.5%.  Both mortgages require a 35% deposit and have a maximum loan of £1million. They have £999 arrangement fees.

Not many lenders offer mortgages without early repayment charges, but the Coventry now has a number of options.  Their Flexx mortgage range is very low at 3.65% and it has a £999 arrangement fee.

This type of deal enables borrowers to buy a property and repay the mortgage without considerable expense.

Accord Mortgages has stepped back into the market after withdrawing virtually all of their rates.  They received more mortgage applications than they could manage and made the decision to concentrate on processing their existing applications.

April 5, 2012

House prices increased by 2.2% in March, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index.

This follows a monthly fall of 0.4% in February and a drop of 0.1% in the three months leading to March.

The average UK house price is £163,803, virtually the same level as in July 2011.

Prices in the first three months of 2012 were 0.6% lower than in the same period last year.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: “House prices in the first quarter of 2012 were little changed compared with the final quarter of 2011, showing a decline of just 0.1%. This was the same as the slight fall recorded between the third and fourth quarters of 2011.

The underlying trend therefore indicated broad stability in UK house prices. The more volatile monthly figures continue to fluctuate as a result of the historically low level of sales volumes, increasing by 2.2% in March following February’s 0.4% fall.”

April 5, 2012

Government body UK Financial Investments is in talks to sell £10bn worth of RBS shares to a consortium of investors led by Sheikh Mansour, the owner of Manchester City Football Club.

According to the Financial Times, Abu Dhabi has discussed a £10bn investment into RBS led by Sheikh Mansour. They are backed by other Abu Dhabi and Middle Eastern investors.

The Sheikh and his partners could invest up to £5bn in RBS shares – potentially equivalent to a 14% stake in the bank.

April 5, 2012

The Co-operative Bank has announced it will increase their standard variable rate (SVR) by 0.5% to 4.74%, affecting around 54,000 customers from May 1, 2012.

The bank says that the average customer will see a £15 increase in their monthly repayments. Although, those with more expensive mortgages will see a bigger jump and are more likely to switch to another bank.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, told the Daily Mail money section: “Borrowers on SVRs can see their interest rate go up at any time – even if the Bank of England base rate has not increased.

“If potential rises are worrying you, consider opting for a fixed rate, or a tracker pegged to the Bank of England base rate. This will help to guard against future payment shocks.”

April 5, 2012

The UK government has launched a new financial institution to finance charities and community groups.

Big Society Capital has £600m and this will help many companies in need. The majority of the funding is coming from cash in dormant banks accounts that have not been touched for more than 15 years.

The fund will back social enterprises that prove they can repay investment through the income they generate, although there has been a mixed response to the idea.

Prime Minister David Cameron is quoted on the BBC saying: “This is about supplying capital to help society expand. Just as finance from the City has been essential to help business grow and take on the world, so finance from the City is going to be essential to tackle our deepest social problems.

Jon Trickett, Labours Shadow Minister for the Cabinet office, was not quite as positive about the new funds. He said: “Charities need all the support they can get. This announcement is welcome, but is too little, far too late.

“The Government should not over claim at a time when over 70,000 jobs in the sector have been lost in the last year alone. Too many charities are cutting back on the support they provide to individuals and communities as a result of the Tory-let Government’s cuts that go too far, too fast.”

April 4, 2012

The National Landlords Association is reminding landlords that they will face tougher penalties if they do not put their tenant’s deposits into a government-approved scheme within 30 days. This is up from 14 days and comes into force on Friday, 6 April.

Landlords must also give their tenant the required Prescribed Information and Deposit Protection Certificate as proof they are protected within this 30 day period.

The changes come into force after changes to the Localism Act.  There has been complaints about landlords and letting agents using administrative problems as an excuse for delays in depositing money. The change in the law will make penalties strictly enforceable, according to David Salusbury, Chairman of the National Landlords Association.

April 5, 2012

The number of tenants in financial difficulty was 10.2% in the first quarter of 2012 and the number of court eviction orders has gone up 9% in the last year. This is according to Templeton LPA, part of LSL Property Services.

Their report shows that an average of 94,400 tenants in England and Wales were in severe arrears in quarter one.  Tenancies in arrears represented 2.4% of all properties in the private rental sector in England and Wales Q1 2012.

April 5, 2012

The Building Societies Association has criticised the Mortgage Market Review’s stance on full advice as being too focused on mortgage brokers. They say mortgage lenders have been left as an afterthought.

April 5, 2012

Angela Knight is to step down as chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association in the summer.

Ms Knight joined the BBA in 2007 and will stay in the role until a replacement is found. 

April 5, 2012

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) conducted over 20 police dawn raids last year, according to data obtained by law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain.

According to the law firm, the FSA averaged over six dawn raids each year from 2005 to 2007 and this increased to an average of 29 raids a year from 2008 to 2011.

April 5, 2012

Story by Leah Milner and it was last updated at 1:14PM, April 2 2012

The Co-operative Bank is to raise the standard variable rate (SVR) paid by 54,000 existing mortgage customers from 4.24 per cent to 4.74 per cent next month, adding £57 per month to the cost of a typical £200,000 home loan.

The bank has blamed increases in the cost of funding for the rise in its SVR, which is the rate that borrowers pay after a fixed rate or discounted deal comes to an end.

The increase will also affect customers who took out mortgages through the former building society Britannia, which is now part of The Co-operative Bank. It follows similar moves by Halifax, Bank of Ireland and Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks last month.

The Co-operative Bank said it would allow borrowers with a deposit of 10 per cent or less, who would be unlikely to qualify for a mortgage with another lender, to fix for five years at their existing rate of 4.24 per cent without paying an arrangement fee.

This rate is lower than the current best-buy five-year fixed for borrowers with a 10 per cent deposit – which is 4.79 per cent with a £599 fee from HSBC.

However, existing borrowers with slightly more than 10 per cent equity in their properties may be frustrated that they do not qualify for this option.

Aaron Strutt, of Trinity Financial Group, the mortgage broker, said: “Anyone who is sitting on a standard variable rate that is not capped could see their mortgage payments rise at any time as other lenders are expected to follow these recent rate increases.

“If you are on a variable rate that is not pegged to the Bank of England base rate you should look at what other mortgage options are available to you and consider switching.”

However, other borrowers with Nationwide Building Society and Cheltenham & Gloucester SVR mortgages have a clause in their contracts which means that their rate can never rise by more than 2 per cent over the Bank of England baserate, which is forecast to remain on hold until 2014, so they are likely to be better off staying put.

View full story via Times Online here: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/money/mortgages/article3371712.ece

April 2, 2012

Trinity Financial, one of the UK’s leading mortgage brokers, has moved to Berkeley Street, Mayfair.

If you are looking to buy a residential home or maybe an investment property – Trinity can help.

We are happy to come to your office for meeting or, we have a number of meeting rooms.

Call us to make an appointment on 020 7016 0790 or complete our contact us form: http://www.trinityfinancialgroup.co.uk/contact-us

April 01, 2012