Mortgages

The Government will continue its Mortgage Rescue Scheme to stave off rising repossession numbers, but has announced plans to cut its funding as it searches for ways to ensure it delivers better value for money.

Mortgage fraud made up a fifth of the total £1bn reported in the UK during the first half of the year.

House price gains made in the first half of 2010 are set to be wiped out, due to aggressive pricing and a flood of new sellers coming to market, Rightmove warns.

Skipton-based lender Redstone Mortgages has been fined £630,000 and ordered to pay customer redress for unfairly treating customers in arrears.

The FSA has banned Scott Robert Merrell for submitting false mortgage applications to lenders in order to launder drugs-trafficking money.

The FSA has taken regulation into unchartered territory with unknown consequences for the shape and effectiveness of the UK mortgage market, warns IMLA.

FSA proposals designed to make mortgage borrowing safer for consumers may in fact make it more difficult for people to get on the property ladder, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says.

The FSA is proposing imposing affordability tests for all mortgages and making lenders ultimately responsible for assessing a consumer's ability to pay.

Homemovers in May saw their mortgage payments account for the lowest proportion of their income in 35 years, according to the CML.

Rogue sale and rent back (Sarb) firms are continuing to operate despite new regulations being introduced at the start of the month.