Mortgages

Has no-one a good word to say about home information packs (HIP)? The government is facing a barrage of criticism from almost every quarter that has some connection with their introduction in a couple of months' time.

The Financial Services Authority has published key rules and a new section on its website for firms providing home reversion plans and Islamic home finance.

Exchanges of property between connected persons will no longer be treated as linked transactions in determining the rate of stamp duty land tax, the Budget notes have revealed.

Zero carbon homes up to £500,000 will be exempt from stamp duty until 2012, the Chancellor has announced.

I shunned the Sun's News in Briefs again this morning. Instead - enticed by the free DVD on offer - I opted for the eminently reasonable Daily Mail.

‘O ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road, An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye'…unless I'm flying Easyjet and then I'll be in Scotland sometime within the next month or so, depending on the delays.

Lehman Brothers has appointed Guy Batchelor as executive director of sales and marketing for Lehman Brothers' mortgage capital businesses in the UK.

The mortgage application process is let down most by the extent to which customers are kept informed of their application, research shows.

The average house price in the UK rose to £205,286 in January from £201,090 in December, according to figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government.

It's taken a while, but the mortgage industry has finally moved out of the inertia that was the result of the imposition of regulation. Now it is back to what it does best - designing and marketing the most innovative mortgage products in the world. But,...