We’re putting the fizz back into Lemonade !

Product launch notification

Please click the link below:

New Mortgage Package wef 11.12.23

Please find attached the Society’s revised mortgage package wef 11^th December 2023.

You will note the changes are as follows:

• Selected variable and fixed rates for house purchase improved
• Selected fixed rates for remortgage improved
• Selected variable and fixed rates for foreign currency house purchase amended
• Selected fixed rates for foreign currency remortgage improved

You will note the changes to the mortgage package are identified in red in the attached document.   I would be very much obliged if you could update your records accordingly.

Please further note that only products detailed on the attached will be available from 11^th December 2023. 

Please click the link below:

Kensington Regulation Watch 7th December 2023

Useful update today covering a broad range of topics.

• Swaps continue to fall shown in the graph below , the 2 year swap was 6.23 in July and is now around 4.6. Let’s hope this, along with more stability,  continues into 2024.

The information is for publications up to the close of business on 7 December 2023.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

CP23/30: Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial sector | FCA – the FCA jointly with the PRA and the Bank, the proposed requirements and expectations for critical third parties (CTPs).

• The FCA wants to manage risks to the stability of, or confidence in, the UK financial system that could arise from a failure in, or disruption to, a CTP’s services.
• The proposals in this CP would allow the FCA, alongside the PRA and the Bank, to monitor and manage these risks in an effective but proportionate manner.
• The consultation closes on 15 March 2024.
• Compliance will review the consultation to assess the impacts and update the relevant stakeholders.
• The Bank of England, PRA and the FCA issue joint proposals to increase resilience of the financial sector by overseeing critical third parties | Bank of England

House of Commons

Treasury Committee – Oral evidence: Sexism in the City

• “The Committee and the Women and Equalities Committee are looking into this issue again is that we published on it back in 2018 and we want to see what change has happened in the last five years. The view of this Committee is that the financial services sector is one of the jewels in the crown of the UK economy. It is a significant area of comparative advantage for the UK as a global financial centre. We would hope that it is therefore able to attract the best people and give them rewarding and potentially very highly paid careers and job opportunities. The taxes from the industry pay for a significant part of our public services.
• Strategically, it is an important area. We would hope that we are making sure the very best people can thrive in the industry. We have been quite surprised by the evidence we have received in our inquiry. Again, as I stress, the inquiry is focused on change since 2018. There has been an almost unanimous point of view that, really, nothing has changed since 2018—things have flatlined. This is still an industry where it can be a struggle for women, in particular, to progress to the highest echelons. It is an area where there continues to be a very wide gender pay gap. It continues to be an industry where we hear concerning stories about culture. We have taken some first-hand evidence from people in the industry on that. Is that something you recognise in the segment of the financial services industry you are here to represent today?”
• Parliamentlive.tv – Treasury Committee – watch the meeting

KPMG

Consumer Duty Board Report – KPMG Global

• Firms are at different stages of Consumer Duty implementation. Many are still finalising their drive to achieve full compliance on their open products. Others are addressing the specific and unique challenges with the impending closed product deadline whilst simultaneously seeking to fully embed the Duty. Whilst these respective challenges are explored further here and here — there is another impeding deadline that is (rightfully) gaining more and more focus — the annual assessment report that must be reviewed and approved by the firm’s governing body. As directly referenced in a FCA speech on 1 November, “this will take time to do well, so don’t delay!”
• Therefore, to help expedite, KPMG in the UK has produced this article to explore how best to approach, design, build and execute the annual assessment report to maximise its usefulness and, critically, align to FCA’s expectations:
  • Approach
  • Report design principles
  • Report key content
  • Governance and oversight

UK Finance

Navigating Economic Uncertainty: A Snapshot of Q3 Household Finances | Insights | UK Finance

• The UK Finance Household Finance Review, delves into the key trends and indicators that shaped consumer behaviour during this period.
• Q3 witnessed a gradual rebound in consumer confidence from the historic lows experienced in the aftermath of the Truss administration’s mini-budget. Despite this upward trajectory, however, confidence remained established in a significant negative net position. More recently the confidence indicator has been volatile in Q4, with some improvement in November helped by more encouraging news on the inflation outlook. However it remains in firmly negative territory with factors ranging from energy cost uncertainty to global events such as the situation in the Middle East, underscoring the fragility of confidence in the current economic and geopolitical environment.
• Consumer spending in Q3 presents a contradictory scenario, where retail sales values ascended while underlying sales volumes experienced a decline. This divergence, evident across various retail categories, reflects the delicate balance between fragile consumer confidence and escalating cost pressures. The recent patterns and figures in retail activity show signs of weakness, suggesting the possibility that more households have run through those savings built up through the pandemic and now cannot afford to maintain expenditure at current levels. Despite these signs of weakness it is not all doom and gloom, with specific sectors such as the travel industry seeing continued sales strength throughout the year.
• On the mortgage front, lending for house purchases continued to decline sharply, impacting both first-time buyers and home movers. Affordability challenges, stemming from the still-significant gap between house prices and wages, as well as higher interest rates and cost of living, pose significant hurdles for prospective homebuyers, creating a barrier for many seeking to enter of move in the housing market.

Mortgage Solutions

Affordability test withdrawal increased access to mortgage market, says FPC – Mortgage Solutions

• The withdrawal of the affordability test recommendation (ATR) has resulted in a small increase in borrower access to the mortgage market, the central bank noted.
• The Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report produced by the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said interest rates had risen since the requirement to apply the stress test was removed last June.
• It went on to say the withdrawal enabled households to borrow larger amounts than before the ATR was in place, as the FPC expected. It also said as the base rate rose, it allowed borrowers who would have otherwise not been able to get a mortgage to be approved.
• Its analysis suggested that the reduced buffer allowed households to borrow more on average.
• The FPC’s loan data found that the withdrawal had resulted in a two to four per cent increase in loan sizes. It said the ATR removal offset the fall in loan sizes which was a result of higher rates.
• Further analysis showed that until the end of 2022, the stress test removed increased total mortgage approvals by one per cent. As the base rate rose, this increased to an estimated one per cent to five per cent by August this year. The FPC said this equated to less than 0.5 per cent of the current mortgage stock, which was small compared to the 44 per cent drop in approvals seen since it was withdrawn.

Please click the link below:

Kensington Regulation Watch 6th December 2023

Please find below regulatory developments from various sources that may be of interest to you. The information is for publications up to the close of business on 6 December 2023.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Financial watchdog sets out credit information market improvements | FCA – people will find their credit files better reflect their financial circumstances, under proposals announced by the FCA:

• The change is one of a range of measures to improve the quality of the information collated by credit reference agencies (CRAs), which is used to inform lending decisions, and boost competition in the market.
• In November 2022, the FCA published an interim report which found that whilst the credit information market was working well in a number of ways, there were also several areas where the market could be working better.
• Issues included significant differences in data between CRAs and that consumers lacked awareness of how to access and dispute credit information.
• Today’s proposals will:
  • Require FCA-regulated data contributors, such as lenders, to share credit information with CRAs.
  • Introduce a common data reporting format to enhance consistency across CRAs and promote competition.
  • Provide greater control for consumers over how they are viewed through making it easier for consumers to record non-financial vulnerability information.

Consumer Duty: The next steps webinar – recording and short survey (attached)

Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)

Our performance improvements and consultation on plans to reduce costs to businesses (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) – the FOS has published details on the next phase of its transformation, in a consultation on plans and budget for the 2024/25 financial year:

• The document sets out the significant strides that the FOS has already made to the service we offer consumers and businesses – including reducing the average time we take to resolve a case from 4.8 months in 2022/23 to 3.2 months in the first half of this year while improving the percentage of cases meeting our quality assessment from 92% in 2022/23 to 94%.
• The FOS has set out plans to build on these improvements and reduce the cost of our service to industry in 2024/25. The FOS proposes to reduce the case fee by £100 per case to £650 and reduce the compulsory and voluntary jurisdiction levies on businesses. This results in an effective £60 million reduction in case fee and levy costs to businesses, once inflation and increases in the number of cases resolved are taken into consideration.
• The FOS plan to use the investment in transformation to reduce costs. In addition, the FOS proposes to utilise surplus reserves to reduce costs to industry in the form of fees and levy, delivering an improved customer experience while maintaining the quality of work.
• In the next financial year the FOS expects to receive 181,300 new complaints about financial providers. The FOS has also set a new target of resolving 90% of cases within five months, to build on the progress made to get consumers and businesses answers to disputes as quickly as possible while maintaining the quality of judgements.
• The consultation will also seek views on the possible exercise of new powers granted in the Financial Services and Markets Act, allowing the FOS to charge claims management companies and other relevant professional representatives. Draft enabling legislation for this has been published by HM Treasury.

Ombudsman News 186 (financial-ombudsman.org.uk)

• Now open: our Plans and Budget Consultation for 2024/25 (above)
• 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
• Annual Report and Accounts for 2022/23

Please click the link below:

We would love your support for Mortgage Strategy Awards 2024!!

It is that time of year where voting has opened for the Mortgage Strategy Awards 2024, so I am hoping to get some support in terms of votes in three categories:

• Best BDM team – we have a fantastic team of Tele BDM’s and Field BDM’s who always go over and above to support our intermediaries both with supporting the brokers business and helping them place more cases, a vote for our BDM would mean the world!

• Best Buy to Let Lender – we have had another strong year for BTL lending supporting brokers all year round by having consistent, competitive products along with great criteria covering portfolio landlords, Ltd Co, Expat and Holiday/Short Term Lets

• Best Specialist Lender – it has been another key year for specialist lenders helping support customers that do not fit the mainstream lenders criteria, due to the changing market and how this is effecting customer profiles we have refreshed our Residential range to help support more customers, we have also been able to help with affordability issues with our strong self-employed and complex income proposition

We would be so grateful for your support and votes, please follow the link below if you would like to get behind and support us 😊

Lending Policy Update From Skipton Building Society For Intermediaries

From Monday 11^th December 2023, Skipton Building Society for Intermediaries will be making the following changes to Lending Policy:

New Build Flats

For New Build Flats the maximum LTV will be as follows:

• Residential applications – max LTV 95% (previously 90%)
• BTL applications – max LTV 75%

Please click the link below:

Our latest mortgage product update

We’re making some changes to our new lending and existing customer mortgage range. These changes affect new mortgage applications and new rate switch applications only.

Any applications on withdrawn products must be submitted by midnight on Thursday 7 December – see our latest updates for details. You’ll be able to apply for any new products from the stated launch date.

Please click the link below:

Halifax Intermediaries product launch 08.12.2023

Changes to our product range

On Friday 8 December, we’re making the following changes to our product range:

Remortgage and Homebuyer products including first time buyer, New Build, Large Loans and Affordable Housing – Shared Equity / Shared Ownership and the equivalent Green Home products

• Rate reductions on selected products of up to 0.25%

Further information

• The product search tool on the Halifax Intermediaries Website, Halifax Intermediaries Online and sourcing systems will be updated by Friday 8 December.
• To secure existing product codes, please submit applications in full by 8pm on Thursday 7 December.

Please click the link below:

Santander fixed rate reductions on 8 December

On Friday 8 December, we’re reducing selected residential and Buy to Let fixed rates in the new business and product transfer ranges.

Please click the link below:

Find out what tenants REALLY think about the private rented sector

With one in five people* in the UK now renting a property from a private landlord, it’s never been more important for landlords to understand the private rented sector from the tenant perspective.

The Landlord Leaders playbook takes a deep-dive into how the ever-changing landscape is affecting the foundations of the industry and how the sector can best serve tenants today and in the future.

The playbook is brought to you using research from OSB Group and the Landlord Leaders community. Convened by OSB Group, the community is made up of group industry individuals and organisations focused on creating a fairer and more sustainable private rented sector, whilst spreading a more positive message about its future.

In the playbook, you’ll find out more about:

• The tenant experience
• Why location is key
• The lure of homeownership
• The financial balancing act

Please click the link below:

SFI – Introducer Internet downtime

Introducer Internet downtime

Introducer Internet won’t be available from 9pm on Saturday 9 December until 6am on Monday 11 December.

Your brokers won’t be able to submit cases during this time. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Please click the link below:

New Buy-to-Let Mortgages from MBS

Launching Wednesday 6th December at 5pm

Buy-to-Let Mortgage Products

D626 – 2 Year Discount Buy-to-Let Purchase – 75% LTV at 5.75% (Floor Rate – 3.50%) 

D627 – 2 Year Discount Buy-to-Let Remortgage – 75% LTV at 5.75% (Floor Rate – 3.50%) D628 – 2 Year Discount Buy-to-Let Limited Company Purchase & Remortgage – 75% LTV at 6.00% (Floor Rate – 3.50%) 

Please click the link below:

Product Withdrawal Notice

We will be withdrawing the following mortgage products on Wednesday 6th December at 5pm.

Please click the link below:

We’ve updated our product switch range

Please click the link below:

The Co-operative Bank Product Launch 08/12/23

On Thursday 7^th December 2023, we’re making rate amendments and extending end dates to March on our Buy to Let Limited Company retention range.

All products listed revert to Limited Company Buy to Let Variable Rate (currently 6.74% variable) for the term.

Withdrawn Products

The following products will be withdrawn from COB Wednesday 6^th December:

Product Specifications I have attached full product specifications for the new range

Please click the link below:

NEW: The fastest packaging… ever?

Tired of guessing whether you’ve properly packaged your cases? We’ve just launched a truly game-changing AI-powered solution to save you time, effort and frustration. Really – there’s nothing else like it in the market.

In fact, we were nominated for a Google Cloud award for this work! 

Just toss all the required documents into your next Gen H application and our brand new AI-powered packaging tool will sort through them all. We’ll automatically analyse and categorise the documents and give you the opportunity to preview the documents you’ve uploaded.

This tool will simplify the application process and perfect your packaging for our underwriting team. That could mean even faster app-to-offer times for your clients.

And this is just our first version – we’ll be launching many more features in the coming weeks!  We’ve been testing this new feature with our Club members over the last few weeks – here’s a few excerpts from our interviews.

The Co-operative Bank Product Launch 08/12/23

On 8 December 2023 we will launch our Mainstream and Buy to Let mortgage ranges for New Business on our new system and under our new brand the Co-operative Bank for intermediaries.

Product switching for existing Platform customers will remain unchanged, continuing to be serviced on thePlatform systems.

Product Changes

New Business: New product codes issued for all products and end dates remain as the end of April.

Product Switching: New product codes issued for all products and end dates extended to the end of April.

Products and rates may change or be withdrawn at short notice subject to demand.

New Business

Residential

• 2, 3 & 5 year fixed decreased by up to 0.25%

Professional Mortgage

• 2 & 5 year fixed decreased by up to 0.14%

Buy to Let

• 2 & 5 year fixed decreased by 0.10%

Help to Buy

Welsh scheme only:

• 2 & 5 year fixed decreased by up to 0.22%.

Product Switch

Residential

• Products will remain under Platform. New product codes issued.

Buy to Let

• Products will remain under Platform. New product codes issued.

Help to Buy

• Products will remain under Platform. New product codes issued.

Pipeline deadline

BrokerPortal and Illustrations: Products will be withdrawn from our website and all sourcing systems at 5pm on Thursday 7 December 2023.

Applications must be received at Platform by 5pm on Thursday 7 December 2023. Applications must have a decision. All applications must be accompanied by all items on our shopping list. 

New products will be available from 9am on Friday 8 December 2023.

Retention: New product codes will be available from 9am on Friday 8 December 2023.

Please click the link below:

Principality mortgage acquisition product range – effective Thursday 7th December

On Thursday 7^th December, Principality will be launching a new mortgage acquisition product range. Details can be found below:

Acquisition

Residential mortgage changes

We’re decreasing the rates of the following residential products:

• Select 75% LTV products by up to 0.31%
• Select 80% LTV products by up to 0.40%
• Select 85% LTV products by up to 0.36%
• Select 90% LTV products by up to 0.21%
• Select 95% LTV products by up to 0.10%
• Select 75% LTV (HTB Wales) products by up to 0.15%
• Select 90% LTV (JBSP) products by up to 0.15%

Buy To Let mortgage changes

We’re decreasing the rates of the following Buy To Let products:

• Select 60% LTV product by 0.18%
• Select 70% LTV product by 0.20%
• Select 75% LTV product by 0.20%

Holiday Let mortgage changes

We’re decreasing the rates of the following Holiday Let products:

• Select 60% LTV product by 0.05%
• Select 70% LTV product by 0.16%

Attached is the acquisition product grid. The range will hold April end dates.

We will also be updating our Buy To Let stress rate from 5.87% to 5.50% and Holiday Let stress rate from 8.60% to 8.45%

All previous codes will be removed from sale on Wednesday 6^th December at 8pm.

Please click the link below:

Portfolio Only Specials – 7 Dec 2023 – Partners

As of the morning of 7^th December 2023, Foundation Home Loans will launch 4 new Portfolio Only products as per the attached.

Welcome to November’s Month in a Minute

Over recent years, we’ve seen more landlords opting to buy, own and let their properties through a limited company structure. We want to be able to support our broker partners as they guide their clients in this changing market.

So we’ve opened the door to Limited Company Buy to Let for brokers who are working with landlords.

Did you know we offer?

• Full end to end case visibility with bespoke platform, Mortgage Extra
• A broadened product range
• Support from specialist underwriters and our dedicated BDM team
• A packaging checklist and affordability calculator to simplify applications

If you’re not yet registered with us, sign up to use Mortgage Extra today.

Please click the link below:

A festive thank you from Hodge

After another action-packed year, we thought we’d put a bow on top and spread some festive cheer with a short video to show how much we value your ongoing support.

With 2023 coming to an end, we wanted to say a huge thank you for working with us. We look forward to helping you and your clients in the moments that matter, in 2024 and beyond. 

Hopefully you’ll find that #HodgeActually is, all around.

Please click the link below:

The advent daily quiz competition begins today

The Barclays Advent Countdown Competition returns tomorrow

Last year’s Advent Countdown Competition was such a success that we’re back for a third year to give away a number of goodies in a bid to help brighten up your run-up to Christmas and get you in the festive spirit. You deserve it.

And this all begins tomorrow, Friday 1st December.

The details – Every working day in December before Christmas will see a question hit your inbox which tests you on your knowledge of Barclays products, processes and policy. All correct responses will be pooled together and then 10 winners will be selected from eligible entrants via a verifiably random computer process.

Each winner will receive a box of luxury chocolates from Harry Specter.

Harry Specter is an award-winning chocolatier who supports positive social change though the creation of employment opportunities for people with autism and involving them in every aspect of the business – from making and packaging the products to administration, design and photography.

In the meantime, why not get ahead of the competition and brush up on our lending policy and product ranges plus our recent process changes by viewing:

• Your monthly update October 2023
• Your monthly update November 2023
• Our mortgage policy
• Our mortgage product guides

Please click the link below:

Introducing our Reach Mortgage range

We believe every generation deserves a place to call home. That’s why we’re putting home ownership in reach of more people with the launch of our new Reach Mortgage range.

The products offer eligible customers a range of mortgages if their credit score means they don’t qualify to apply for one of our standard mortgage products. This means we’re helping those who may otherwise face barriers reaching their dream of owning a home.

How does it work?

1. Simply submit your Decision in Principle (DIP) in the usual way.
2. The DIP outcome will confirm if your client is eligible for a product from our standard mortgage range, or our Reach Mortgage range.
3. If they’re eligible for the Reach Mortgage range, it’s important you reassess the suitability of these products and any advice you have given your client. The products are on sourcing systems and identifiable as “Reach”.
4. Progress the application – if you decide to proceed with a Reach Mortgage, there’s no need to start again, just pick up the DIP outcome where you left off. Your client will still need to meet our affordability and standard lending criteria.

By introducing our Reach Mortgage range, we’re making home ownership possible for even more people, reducing the number of people who face being turned down for a mortgage.

Please click the link below:

Technology Issues – Update

The technical incident at CTS is ongoing. The three firms on our panel who have been experiencing operational difficulties since the incident are still working hard to mitigate the impact of the incident and are substantially advanced in their recovery.
These panels firms are not currently taking new instructions through eConveyancer and are working quickly through existing cases to minimise disruption. We will reinstate them on eConveyancer when they are operationally ready to accept cases .As before, all planned completions remain the priority for firms.

If any firms/brokers have any concerns re cases initially we would ask them to contact the casehandler at the relevant firm, however, if there are any urgent cases and the casehandler cannot be contacted we are here to support – if they can email their Account Manager or contact our Customer Experience team on cxteam@hellosmoove.com. 

Please click the link below:

‘A New Year; a new plan for landlords?’

West One Residential Mortgage RATE REDUCTION

West One are excited to announce some major enhancements to their residential mortgage range including significant pricing reductions and the extension of our offer period.

Highlights of the Residential Rate Reductions:

Further rate reductions to our Platinum, Prime Plus and Prime Product Ranges including:

• Fixed rates reduced by up to 0.64%

• Limited edition 5-year fixed rates starting from 6.09%

• 2-&-3-year fixed rates starting from 6.75%

• Reductions to Prime Plus Flex and Prime Flex plans offering LTI’s over 5.0 times income starting from 6.99%

• Reductions to our Limited Edition £500 Cashback range starting from 6.89%

Please click the link below:

‘A New Year; a new plan for landlords?’

Have a read of the below article.

Please click the link below:

Latest update from Chorley Building Society

After a review of our Later Life lending proposition, we have changed the age criteria for Later Life products.  Borrowers aged up to 75 can apply for our standard mortgage products range.

Our Later Life lending mortgage products are now available to borrowers who are aged 75 or over on application or will be aged 75 at the end of the mortgage term.

This accommodates those people in non-manual roles who work up to the age of 75.

With this change in lending criteria we have launched two new products:

🏠 Later Life 2 Year Discount – 60% LTV – initial rate 6.09% (2.65% discount from the Society’s Standard Variable Rate for 2 years. The discount is subject to a minimum interest rate floor of 2.00%).

🏠 Later Life 2 Year Discount – 80% LTV – initial rate 7.24% (1.50% discount from the Society’s Standard Variable Rate for 2 years. The discount is subject to a minimum interest rate floor of 2.00%).

Please click the link below:

Kensington Mortgages Regulations Watch 28 November 2023

Please click the link below:

HSBC UK’s economy webinars – please join us

HSBC UK’s economy webinars – please join us

We’re excited to be bringing you another detailed update on the current mortgage market.

Join Tracie Burton, Senior Corporate Account Manager, and our Group Economist for their latest views on the global and UK economy. They will also be touching on the recent Autumn Statement and the impact this will have on the market.

How to register

To register for one of the webinars, please click on your preferred option below and

enter your details.

Once confirmed, please save the invitation to your calendar.

All webinars will last approximately 45 minutes.

We look forward to seeing you.

Please click the link below: