Mortgages

More than 1.5 million endowment complaints have been handled and over £2.3bn has been paid in redress, according to Financial Services Authority (FSA) records.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is understood to have put forward informal proposals to the government which could see it handle all complaints about solicitors, barristers and claims management companies.

Latest figures from the British Bankers' Association show there has been strong gross mortgage lending but weak unsecured lending over the last month.

Edeus, the mortgage lender created by ex-HBOS duo Michael Bolton and Alan Cleary, is planning to make instant mortgage offers at its launch.

First-time buyers need to be saving around £500 a month if they want to get on the property ladder.

Inheritance tax (IHT) revenue hit a record £1.7bn in first half of 2006, up £200m or 13% from the first half of 2005, according to figures produced by high street bank Halifax.

Firms still need to do more to improve the quality of their advice on lifetime mortgages, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said.

Platform Mortgages is to launch its new online application tool ‘clickapplication' on Monday 24th July, lender has said today.

Gross mortgage lending hit a new record level in June, reaching £32.2bn, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Conservative leader, David Cameron has attacked Labour's U-turn on home condition reports (HCR) during Prime Minister's questions, claiming the government has also dropped the planning gain supplement (PGS) announced by the Chancellor in the Budget.