Mortgages

House prices have risen for the sixth consecutive month and larger properties are out performing flats, according to the latest Royal institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) UK housing market survey.

HomeBuyer Systems has brought in a financial services training and compliance consultancy, Nm², to run training courses for intermediaries using its platform.

Annual house price inflation in the UK fell from 3.4% in February to 3.3% in March, according to the latest data from the Department for Communities and Local Government. (DCLG)

Confidence among residential property investors remains high despite the onset of houses in multiple occupancy licensing, research from Paragon Mortgages reveals.

The ombudsman for estate agents has called for the licensing and, in effect, regulation of all estate agents in the UK.

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (Ami) has launched a factsheet to inform members about the different types of credit search used by lenders in the mortgage process.

A backbench Labour MP has called for mortgage repossessions to be regulated in an effort to avoid such actions "needlessly destroying people's lives."

Mortgage brokers fear the majority of sellers will approach estate agents first in order to arrange their home information packs, the latest research from the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (Ami) claims.

The plight of first-time buyers has come under the spotlight again as two research reports claimed half now pay stamp duty while the number of first-time-buyer loans have plummeted to their lowest levels yet.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has been replaced by the creation of a new Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) headed by Ruth Kelly.