Nationwide has launched a new range of mortgage products at up to 90% LTV for customers who use the lender’s FlexAccount as their main bank account.

The mortgage range is however only available through Nationwide’s branches direct for existing customers moving home and Customers are required to deposit at least £750 a month into the bank account to qualify for the deals.

The 90% LTV range includes a two-year fixed rate deal at 5.98% with a £396 reservation fee and a £99 booking fee, and a three-year fixed rate deal with a £896 reservation fee and a £99 booking fee.

Other mortgages available up to a maximum 90% LTV include a five-year fixed rate deal at 6.73% with a £896 reservation fee and a £99 booking fee, and a two-year tracker at 4.63% with the same fees applicable.

The range is offered to both existing and new FlexAccount holders.

Customers opening a FlexAccount to access the deals have to use Nationwide’s account transfer service to qualify.

For existing mortgage customers moving home, the offer represents a discount of 0.7% off Nationwide’s current range of 90% LTVs.

Each of the products comes with the option of free legal fees, and the range will be available from October 30.

Nationwide has also increased the LTV for its tracker range for new customers moving home and first-time buyers from 80% to 85%.

Barclays have agreed to buy Standard Life Bank for £226 million in a deal which will bring the company more than 365,000 extra mortgage and savings customers in the UK. Read the rest of this entry »

 The Bank of China (UK) has become a member of the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The company was created following the Bank of China’s decision to set up a branch in London in 1929.

This was the first time any Chinese bank had set up a financial institution outside of China.

The CML says that the Bank of China (UK) has expanded steadily over the years and is now an important member of the City’s banking community, with branches in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and London’s Chinatown.

The CML now has 136 members and 81 associates.

Bank of China is currently the third largest bank in the world.

It is authorised by the Financial Services Authority and a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

UK distributors offering deals with Bank of China (UK) include Legal & General Mortgage Club via the appointed representatives of L&G Partnership Services, Solent Mortgage Services, Complete Mortgage & Loan Services, Connect Mortgage Group and Savills Lending Solutions.

New Abbey & Alliance & Leicester exclusives:

Abbey Existing Customer Bank Account exclusive:
3.65% 2 Year Fixed until 02/01/2012
with Homebuyer or Remortgage Solution*
Homebuyer solution – free val & £250 cashback
Remortgage solution – free val & free legals
• Booking fee £995 (can be added to the loan)
• Completion deadlines apply
• Up to 70% LTV
• ERC’s: 3% until 02/01/2012 (Benefits repayable until 02/10/2011)
• Product codes: Purchase: C100H / Remortgage: C100R
To qualify for this product the client must have an existing & active Abbey Bank Account – term & conditions applyAbbey 3.94% 2 Year Fixed until 02/01/2012
with Remortgage Solution*
Remortgage solution – free val & free legals
• Booking fee £995 (can be added to the loan)
• Up to 70% LTV
• Product code changed now: Remortgage: F901R
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Alliance & Leicester 3.09% 2 Year Homebuyer Tracker
with free valuation for all customers*
• BBR + 2.59% for 2 years
• Product fee £995
• Max LTV 75%
• ERC’s: 2% for 2 years

*Terms & conditions apply

The British Bankers Association released figures on Friday which show there were 42,088 house purchase approvals in September, up 77% on the same time in 2008.

This figure also showed an increase from the 40,100 mortgages approved in August. Remortgages were still down by almost 60% on 2008 with 21,282 approved in September, compared to 23,506 in August.

David Dooks, statistics director at the BBA, says: “Mortgage lending by the high street banks is continuing to improve from the lows seen earlier this year and the number of house purchase approvals continues to recover. Housing market activity will depend, however, on more properties coming on to the market. Apart from property decisions, further symptoms of subdued consumer confidence are a reduced appetite for unsecured borrowing and more saving.

Read the rest of this entry »

 The Woolwich  is today  leading the pace in the UK mortgage market by cutting interest rates and more interestingly lowering the amount of deposit borrowers need for approval on loans, says Moneysupermarket.com.
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Hannah-Mercedes Skenfield, mortgage spokesperson at moneysupermarket.com, said: “It is exciting to see yet another round of rate reductions from Woolwich, this time on their fixed rates, however the really good news is that borrowers with higher LTV requirements (up to 80 %) are also set to benefit.”She said it would seem that competition is certainly hotting up between the major players and that the impact of aggressive mortgage rates being introduced is indeed having the desired impact with the number of remortgage product searches on moneysupermarket.com noticeably increasing for the first time this year in September.

“With consumer focus currently on variable rates I will be very interested to see how consumers react to the new opportunities in fixed rates and even more so on how quickly the other major lenders respond to Woolwich’s latest play for an even greater share of the mortgage market.,” said Mercedes-Skenfield.

Nationwide Building Society is to launch a number of incentives which could make it a lot easier for homebuyers to get on the housing ladder for the first time or purchase their next property. Read the rest of this entry »

The housing market will continue to strengthen over the next few years rendering a dreaded double dip in prices. Read the rest of this entry »

The latest Equity Release Market Monitor has revealed a rise in equity release take up in the July to September period. Read the rest of this entry »