Mortgages

Abbey for Intermediaries (AfI) has announced it is launching a mortgage range for brokers which offers free legal and valuation services.

The number of mortgages approved by major banks in August is up by 81% over the past year, figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) show.

Government-owned banks are offering the most competitive mortgage deals, according to data from Evaluate Technologies.

Borrowers are not taking advantage of historic low rates to overpay on their home-loan, according to research from Unbiased.co.uk.

IFA partners with Positive Solutions can now refer complex equity release and long-term care cases to specialist brokers, and receive a share of the commission, after the company enhanced its Mortgage Club service.

The first Islamic Finance conference in the North of England is being held in Leeds.

The value of new home loans approved for buyers in August is likely to be less than the previous month, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) predicts.

The FSA has banned Welsh broker Talking Mortgage Solutions (TMS) for not maintaining enough capital.

European Union leaders are to urge the threat of "sanctions" for banks that pay excessive bonuses.

A perceived increase in the availability of mortgage finance has led to cautious optimism in the property market, according to the Building Societies Association (BSA) Property Tracker survey.