mortgages

NEW LABOUR'S drive towards compulsory pensions savings has begun as new Pensions Minister Alan Johnson yesterday proposed to the party conference employees would have to opt out of occupational schemes, says the Times newspaper .

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Rightmove and the Building Societies Association suggest the housing market is definitely cooling.

TESCO is launching itself into the multibillion-pound mortgage lending market, says this morning's Times , to try and pick up even more financial services business.

Bristol & West has used the help of Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) to devise new mortgage products being launched to Muslim customers in the UK looking for Sharia law-compliant financial services.

Lender Paragon Mortgages says figures obtained through its monthly buy-to-let index show the UK rental market is still strong as rents continue to increase at more than twice the level of inflation.

Buy-to-let lending is still a popular option for many property investors but this market also shows signs of slowed growth in the first half of 2004, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Long-term fixed mortgage loans may become more popular as borrowers look to secure their borrowing rates, suggest figures from Moneyfacts.

The average price of property sales completed was £175,401 between April and June 2004, compared with £149,935 in the same period in 2003, says the Land Registry.

Three out of four homeowners who release equity from their homes then fail to cover the additional debt with life cover, suggests research by Egg.

The first Islamic British bank is expected to opened in London nexy month, having received authorisation by the FSA.