Mortgages

The Council of Mortgage Lenders says the Mortgage Market Review proposals are a "tangible and significant risk" to the UK mortgage market, with a smaller, more risk averse industry likely.

David Jones, the former Northern Rock chief financial officer (CFO) banned by the FSA for misreporting mortgage arrears, today described his punishment as "unfair and disproportionate".

David Jones, a former finance director at majority state-owned lender Northern Rock, has been banned and fined by the FSA for misreporting arrears figures.

Business secretary Vince Cable said banks should be 'very, very self-conscious' about how they reward staff and investors and refused to rule out a tax on bank profits.

The FSA will be able to restrict firms from selling certain products and suspend individuals as ‘disciplinary' measures when it implements new powers granted to it under the Financial Services Act 2010.

Northern Rock mortgage borrowers on the toxic loan side of the bank will be slammed with early redemption charges if they attempt to remortgage before their deal ends.

Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks have admitted undercharging 18,000 customers on variable rate mortgages after a software error meant monthly payments were miscalculated.

Mortgage brokers are becoming increasingly reliant on the protection market to survive and are calling for unemployment cover to become standard on income protection (IP), according to new research.

Self-cert mortgages made up just 0.7% of brokers' business in Q2 this year, according to Paragon Mortgages.

Gross mortgage lending rose 15% last month, but experts attribute the increase to "seasonal pick-up".