A further reduction to the Bank of England base rate looks likely, according to the latest UK Capital Economics update.

The economic analyst thinks that there is more than a 50% chance that the Bank of England will lower base rate and make a 0.25% reduction in November – taking official rates to 0.25%.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has been concerned about the potential adverse impact of a cut in bank rate on banks’ profits, given that many mortgages are contractually linked to the base rate. 72% of outstanding mortgages are variable, rather than fixed.

Capital Economics says that it is possible that the MPC could cut rates even closer to zero, following the examples of the US Fed and Bank of Japan. The US Fed’s target rate is zero to 0.25% and Japan is targeting an overnight rate of zero to 0.1%.

According to their UK economic update: “We have said for some time that cutting interest rates below 0.5% remains a potential tool in the MPC’s arsenal and the MPC now seems to be warming to the idea.

“Admittedly, with rates already at just 0.5%, there is still a limit to what good a further cut can do. The Bank of England’s econometric model suggests that each 25bps cut boosts GDP by just 0.1%.”

July 26, 2012

A number of lenders have lowered their mortgage rates this week including Halifax and Woolwich, also both the Coventry and Nationwide Building Societies.

Accord Mortgages made the largest change of the week when they reduced their five-year fixed rate by 0.6%.

Many of the bigger lenders have set amounts of money to lend and if they don’t hit their targets, they lower rates to attract mortgage applications from the other banks.

Last week, Abbey for Intermediaries launched a host of best buy mortgages. They have leading two, three and five year fixes.

Trinity Financial has access to a particularly attractive three-year fixed rate at 2.99%. It is available to borrowers with a 40% deposit and the arrangement fee is £1,495. The lender also provides a free property valuation and £250 cash back if you are purchasing a property.

August 1, 2012

Figures from the Council of Mortgage lenders show that Lloyds Banking Group remained the largest UK lender in terms of gross mortgage lending, followed by Santander and then Barclays.

Lloyds completed £28bn in 2011, down from £30bn in 2010, and Santander completed £23.7bn, down slightly from the £24.2bn it completed in 2010.

The top two mortgage lenders, Lloyds and Santander, accounted for 36.7% of the market share in 2011.

Nationwide Building Society overtook the Royal Bank of Scotland in terms of gross mortgage lending as they lent £2.5bn more.

HSBC were quite some way down the lending table in sixth position having lent £13.3bn.

July 26, 2012

Barclays and Nationwide Building Society are both experiencing delays in processing applications due to demand for their mortgages.

A story on Mortgage Strategy’s website highlights that Nationwide’s heightened demand for fixed-rate products is creating delays.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “Many of the mortgage lenders are lowering their rates and they are struggling to stick to their more normal processing times.

“We constantly monitor the lenders service times and if one of our clients’ needs a fast mortgage offer, we place them with the lender with the most competitively priced mortgages and efficient processing times.”

Nationwide’s service level agreement includes a processing period of 14 days but only 50 per cent of applications have been processed since July 9. The average processing period has since risen to 17 days.

Barclays are also running above their service agreement of five days and have delays of up to seven days for house purchase applications.

July 26, 2012

Any actual or attempted manipulation of key benchmarks such as LIBOR can have a serious impact on market integrity. The European Commission has acted to address this by making amendments that will clearly prohibit the manipulation of benchmarks, including LIBOR and EURIBOR, and make such actions a criminal offence.

Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner said: “EU action is needed to put an end to criminal activity in the banking sector and criminal law can serve as a strong deterrent. This is why we are proposing EU-wide rules to tackle this type of market abuse and close any regulatory loopholes.”

July 26, 2012

Virgin Money has agreed to acquire £465 million of high quality NRAM (Northern Rock Asset Management) mortgage assets from UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), the holding company for NRAM and Bradford & Bingley.

The bank will be contacting the customers affected to advise them they that will be moving closer to the transfer date, which is expected to be before the end of the year.

The acquisition does not change Virgin Money’s organic growth plans or its stated target of providing £45 billion of new lending between 2012 and 2017. It also does not change their 3+month arrears position of the Virgin Money mortgage book, which stands at 0.31%.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Chief Executive of Virgin Money said: “This is an excellent acquisition for us. It is sensible deployment of some of our excess liquidity and allows us to grow our mortgage book with high quality mortgages. UKAR has confirmed that it intends to use the proceeds of the acquisition to further repay their government loan.”

July 27, 2012

Woolwich has made a number changes to their large mortgage loans and they now offer a two-year fixed rate at 3.09% available to borrowers with a 40% deposit.   The maximum loan size is £1 million and the arrangement fee is as low as £999. If you are remortgaging from another lender, they will also pay for the property valuation and legal fees.

One of their most competitive two-year fixed rates available up to £2 million is priced at 2.99% and it has a £1,999 arrangement fee. Woolwich require a 35% deposit.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “Some of the more traditional high-street lenders are offering large mortgage loans providing more competition to the private banks.  For help securing a leading mortgage contact  Trinity on 020 7016 0790.”

July 25, 2012

Abbey for Intermediaries has launched a selection of fixed rate mortgages and they are some of the most competitively priced rates in the market. They also have a limited availability and Trinity Financial has secured access to them.

It has been a very busy week as more banks and building societies have made their rates more attractive. Northern Rock, RBS, NatWest and the Coventry Building Society have all lowered their mortgage rates.

Abbey’s new three-year fix is as low as 2.99% and their leading five-year fix is 3.49%. Both mortgages have a £1,495 arrangement fee and the bank requires a 40% deposit to access the rates.

Abbey also offer one of the lowest two-year fixed rates at 3.29% if you have a 30% deposit and it has a £995 arrangement fee.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “The three year fixed rate is particularly attractive because it is cheaper than many of the two-year rates.

“These mortgages also have some good incentives with them. If you are buying a home Abbey will provide a free property valuation and £250 cash back. The maximum loan size on these mortgages is £1 million.”

July 20, 2012

The Treasury and the Bank of England has launched a new Funding for Lending scheme to enable access to cheaper funding than might otherwise be available to banks and building societies. This is part of the ongoing plan to support lending growth.

Funding for Lending does not target specific parts of the market such as mortgages, instead it is being more widely aimed at all types of lending to non-financial businesses and individuals. If lenders increase their lending, funding under the scheme is significantly cheaper than if they reduce their lending. So the scheme is designed to provide an incentive for lenders to increase their lending.

Almost 100 banks are involved in discussions over the government’s Funding for Lending scheme.

George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is quoted as saying: “The Treasury and the BoE are taking coordinated action to inject new confidence into our financial system and support the flow of credit to where it is needed in the real economy – showing that we are not powerless to act in the face of the eurozone debt storm.”

July 20, 2012

The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee may look at lowering base rate if the new Funding for Lending (FFL) scheme does not work.

The minutes from their latest meeting state: “The arguments for and against a cut in Bank rate at this meeting were the same as before. But the impact of the FLS and other policy initiatives might, in time, alter the Committee’s assessment of the effectiveness of such a rate reduction.

“The Committee could review this option again when the impact of the FLS and other policy initiatives was more readily apparent.”

July 20, 2012

The Co-operative Group will pay Lloyds up to £800m for the sale of 632 of its branches. The move will take the Co-op’s total number of branches to almost 1,000.

The Co-operative will pay an initial £350m for the business and up to £400m based on the performance of Co-operative’s combined banking business until 2027.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of November 2013.

About 4.8 million Lloyds customers will be transferred to the Co-op, giving them an approximate 7% share of the UK current account market share.

Lloyds group chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, says: “We believe the Co-operative Group will be a good owner for our business, customers and colleagues, and the combined banking business will be a significant competitor on the high street.”

July 20, 2012

Despite common perceptions that children typically leave home to spread their wings to new and exciting destinations, research by Nationwide Building Society suggests almost half of homeowners in the UK, simply move down the road.

In today’s modern global community, where people commonly travel abroad for holidays or retirement, communicate easily with friends and family abroad, it’s surprising to discover that almost half (44%) of home owners live no further than 10 miles from where they grew up. Yet interestingly, two thirds say they would consider moving away.

For many, what prevents a move away is a desire to stay close to their family (51%) and friends (46%). Only 18% cited confidence in local schools as a reason to stay – with those in the North most likely to be swayed by this (28%).

Tracie Pearce, Nationwide’s head of mortgages, comments: “Our research suggests that it’s often more emotional issues that keep us tied to our familiar surroundings and affect our decisions about moving home. It shows that for some, home really is where the heart is. However, home is also wherever you decide to make it.”

Source: Nationwide press relsease and research carried out by YouGov among 1027 UK residents.

July 20, 2012

Earlier this week Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) made one of the largest rate changes seen for quite some time when they lowered their first-time buyer mortgage by 1.70% – from 6.49% to 4.74%.

To qualify for this rate you will need a 10% deposit and there is a £995 arrangement fee.

At the same time, RBS also announced that they are using the Funding for Lending scheme and these changes were a result of them being able to access this new scheme.

NatWest, part of the same group, has also launched two new market leading buy-to let mortgages. They offer a fixed and tracker rate and they are both priced at 3.49%. The bank requires a 40% deposit and the arrangement fees are £1,999.

July 20, 2012

More than 200,000 additional social tenants are to get detailed access as to how their landlords spend money.

Major landlords are to follow ministers’ requests to open their books to taxpayers and tenants and let them see how they spend their rent money, according to Housing Minister Grant Shapps.

Adactus, Hyde and Sanctuary housing associations – who between them manage over 100,000 homes – are to publish details of their spending.

Accoring to Mr Shapps housing associations should do as councils do – and the Department for Communities and Local Government itself does – and publish details of their spending. Home Group were first to answer the call in 2011, and now routinely publish detail of all spending above £500 – with Viridian and Hereford Housing Associations doing the same from earlier this year.

July 7, 2012

Lending for self-build mortgages at Saffron Building Society has reached £40 million since January 2011.

This makes up 14% of total new lending for the mutual, which is the largest building society serving the East of England. Saffron has released these statistics on the back of a government announcement that a £30 million government fund is to be made available to the house building community.

The move is part of wider efforts to help double the size of the self-build sector. Over the next three years this £30 million fund will offer short term loans to community groups, builders and other small organisations looking to start self-build projects in England, although London is excluded.

The money could be used to pay up to 75 per cent of a project’s land and early construction costs, and will be available to organisations planning to build five or more homes at a total cost of up to £3 million.

Jon Hall, CEO of Saffron Building Society, commented: “We have backed the self-build community for some time now. At a time when property prices are out of reach for many, self-build gives our customers another option of getting on the housing ladder.”

Trinity Financial has access to a number of lenders offering self-build mortgages and one of them has some of the most compeitive terms available.

July 20, 2012

Skipton Building Society has launched a range of seven and ten-year fixed rate mortgages available from 3.99%.

The building society says that they have been able to offer market leading mortgages because the cost of funding for long term fixes is now much more competitive.

For borrowers looking to protect themselves against future rate rises, the Skipton fixes are among the lowest that Trinity Financial has seen for quite some time.

The seven-year fix at 3.99% is very competitively priced and the mortgage is portable so you can take the rate with you if you move home. The ten-year fix is slightly more expensive at 4.49%.

To access these mortgages you will need to have at least 25% equity in your property. The arrangement fee is £995 and the lender provides a free property valuation and legal service when you remortgage.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “If you would like to remortgage but you do not want to take such a long term fix, we have access to a two-year fix at 3.29% with a £999 arrangement fee – or a five-year fix at 3.89% with a £549 arrangement fee. Both mortgages have a free remortgage service to minimise costs.”

July 12, 2012

ING Direct will become the latest lender to increase its standard variable rate (SVR) from 3.5% to 3.99% from August 1.

The bank says that the rate rise is down to the increasing cost of funds and adverse market conditions.

A spokesman for ING is quoted as saying: “There was a raft of increases earlier this year – we were able to hold the level that it’s been at since 2009 but eventually we had no choice to increase it.”

ING Direct has 4,500 mortgage customers on their standard variable rate.

If you are paying a standard variable rate, Trinity Financial can probably re-mortgage you to a more competitively priced deal.

Call us on 020 7016 0790.

July 12, 2012

Mortgage lender GE Money has confirmed that they are no longer likely to accept applications from borrowers if they have recently used a payday loan company, according to a report in Mortgage Strategy magazine.

More people are using payday loans in these difficult economic times, but they are unlikely to expect any future mortgage application to be declined as a result of borrowing the money.

GE Money is not the only lender likely to refuse mortgage applications for this reason.

A spokesman for GE Money is quoted as saying: “As a responsible lender in a challenging market we review a range of data to make prudent mortgage lending decisions.

“Payday loan data is one of many items included in this review and if a mortgage applicant has a current or had a recent payday loan, it is unlikely that we will consider their mortgage application.”

If you subscribe to Times Online, you can view Trinity’s comments via this link:

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July 12, 2012

In many cases women pay less for their life insurance and critical illness cover than men, based on historic risk. This is set to change on December 21 when the European Gender Directive is introduced.

From December, insurance companies will be forced to charge the same amount as men and it is thought women’s insurance premiums may increase by 10 – 15%.

According to a recent industry survey, nearly all women do not know that their insurance premiums are set to increase due to the new regulations.

If you do not have any life insurance or critical illness cover, Trinity can ensure that you do not pay any unnecessary additional costs.

July 7, 2012

Trinity Financial has access to a range of leading buy-to-let mortgages offered by the Kent Reliance, Skipton and Hinckley & Rugby Building Societies.

Kent Reliance recently launched one of the only 15% deposit buy-to-let mortgages and it is a two-year discounted rate at 5.49%. The discount is 1.09% from their standard variable rate at 6.58%. The arrangement fee is 2.5% of the loan amount.

The Hinckley’s rate is one of the lowest available at 3.25% and it does not have any early repayment charges. The rate offers a 2.39% discount from their standard variable rate for two-years and has arrangement fees totalling £2,000. Investors will need to put down a 40% deposit.

Skipton’s new two-year fix is very competitively priced at 3.89% and it has a £2,495 arrangement fee. Investors will need a 40% deposit.

July 12, 2012

Trinity Financial has just had a visit from one of the biggest international private banks and they are looking to increase competition in the market. They would like to undercut their competitors and offer cheaper terms – for the right clients.

They are offering margins as low as 1.75% over the Bank of England base rate and the arrangement fee is 0.5% of the loan amount.

They can lend up to 70% of the property value and they are happy to lend on an interest only basis. The minimum loan size is £1 million.

As part of the deal, the bank will look to take funds under management.

They have been established for 100 years and they have a long history of managing trust funds.

For more details call Trinity on 020 7016 0790.

July 12, 2012

Bank of China may not have made any changes to their market leading mortgage rate since it was launched in January 2010, but it has now been raised twice in a matter of weeks.

The new rate is still very competitively priced at 3.18% and it remains one of the few term-tracker mortgages available. It has low early repayment charges and arrangement fees starting at £1,295.

Trinity Financial has an excellent relationship with the Bank of China and we have direct access to their mortgage processing team. We can get your application through efficiently.

To meet their lending criteria you will need at least 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 received a large amount of mortgage enquiries and they are not facing any funding pressures. They are still looking to take more applications.”

For more information call Trinity on 020 7016 0790.

July 8, 2012

Trinity Financial are experts at arranging mortgages and the majority of our clients are leading professionals.

As a whole of market  mortgage broker we are not limited to a number of lenders and we have excellent relationships with many of the private banks.

We offer all of our clients seeking Actuary mortgages a bespoke service and we assist applicants from their initial enquiry until completion of the mortgage.

We will search the market to find the best deal to suit you.

Call us on 020 7016 0790 to find out how we can help.