Mortgages

Mortgages should only be advanced to first-time buyers after they have undergone some training and passed an exam, according to the chairman of a debt charity.

Home of Choice has gone into administration after acquisition talks failed at the last minute.

Santander UK profits grew more than 15% in the first three months of the year to £426m, with revenue up 8%.

The rate of UK house price inflation has entered double figures for the first time since the credit crisis began.

Mortgage borrowers are taking advantage of low interest rates to pay down their mortgage and other debt, while building up the money they hold in current accounts.

Congressional investigators yesterday accused Goldman Sachs of taking a "net short" position in the US mortgage market in 2007 that enabled it to benefit from the bursting of the housing bubble.

More than a quarter of retired people are still paying off a mortgage, while over 50% have mortgage and/or other personal debt in the form of loans, credit cards and overdrafts.

Increasing uncertainty regarding the outcome of the General Election and the impact on the economy is taking its toll on the UK property market.

HML, the Skipton-owned outsourcing firm, will close its Scarborough office putting at risk 136 jobs, with a further 28 potential losses at other sites.

Paula John, editor-in-chief at Mortgage Solutions, IFAonline's sister title, discusses the first-time buyer (FTB) market on BBC Working Lunch.