Self-employed

IFAonline.co.uk has been inundated with comments on mortgage dual-pricing over the last few months. In response to requests from our readers, we are launching a campaign on the issue with a view to making the FSA listen properly to advisers' and brokers'...

Mortgages Plc is to withdraw its self-certified facility for employed mortgage applicants it was announced today.

Bradford & Bingley's announcement it has stopped selling competitors' mortgages through its 200-plus high street branches still makes business sense despite recent rises in the key base rate of interest, the lender says.

Kensington Mortgages has announced it is to launch into the second charge loan market.

The number of self-employed people has risen rapidly in recent years, and there are now well over three million people working for themselves in the UK.

Distributor Openwork has expressed concerns that mortgage lenders are not always consistent in their underwriting and processing of self-certification cases.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has reported a mixed result following the completion of its research and mystery shopping work on self-certification mortgages.

The Financial Services Authority has uncovered evidence suggesting mortgage brokers encourage their clients to lie on sub-prime mortgage applications.

Mortgage lenders have been told in a letter from the FSA there is little evidence of abuse of self-certification mortgage applicants as firms have good controls to prevent against fraud.