Mortgages

Email Mortgages, an advisory practice providing customers with tailored fee-free advice online via email, has launched a new IFA referral service for financial advisers who do not currently offer in-house mortgage advice.

The number of live mortgage schemes dropped a further 20% in the past month, according to figures from Mortgage Brain.

PMS has emphasised the importance of the use of the word 'trust' in its rebrand, which has seen it drop the word mortgage from its primary branding.

Tenant demand remains strong with more than a third of landlords reporting growing demand for their property, the latest Private Rented Sector Trends report from Paragon Mortgages suggests.

The Bank of England has revealed the use of its Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS) was considerable, with a total of £185bn of Treasury Bills issued in exchange for high quality mortgage-backed and other securities.

KPMG has warned mortgage fraud cases are likely to become "more visible" as the economic downturn unfolds, after the financial services and risk advisory firm reported the value of cases uncovered in 2008 rose by £32.2m from last year's figure.

Broker John Charcol has confirmed it has scrapped its telephone-based fee-free advisory arm Charcol.

Property prices will fall by 40% from their peak in 2007 unless Government action succeeds in boosting mortgage lending, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

The New Local Government Network (NLGN) has praised Government proposals which will improve the ability of councils to offer mortgages - an idea the think tank first proposed last year.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has challenged several sale and rent back companies over advertising claims.