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Rising regulation seen as biggest challenge for UK mortgage brokers
Increasing regulatory and compliance demands top the list of challenges currently facing UK mortgage lenders, according to new research. Regulation and compliance demands were cited by 70% of respondents to a poll from EDM Mortgage Support Services (MSS), a provider of information and business process management technology and services to the UK mortgage market. Some 55% cited poor use of technology and or reliance on outdated technology, 50% said maintaining relationships with brokers, 46% the mortgage application and approval process and 38% a lack of transparency across the mortgage application and approval process. The vast majority, some 89% of respondents, said they thought that technology will be significant in improving the transparency of the audit chain and the ability to clearly track actions across the complete mortgage application process and only 3% said it will be insignificant. However, 73% believe that mortgage lenders face significant challenges in providing fully transparent and fully compliant data to key stakeholders such as regulators and 27% stated that they ‘absolutely’ believe this to be the case. The poll also shows that 75% said that since the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review in 2014, effective data management has become ‘significantly’ more important in the mortgage application and approval process to meet regulatory requirements while 3% thought it has become insignificant. ‘Mortgage lenders and firms across the mortgage industry are facing a raft of challenges, not just from increasingly strident regulators but also new competitors, outdated technology systems, increasing levels of fraud and the need for process transparency,’ said Joe Pepper, managing director of EDM Mortgage Support Services. ‘It is more crucial than ever that lenders and other stakeholders implement the right technological solutions that can effectively and efficiently help them manage all these challenges at the same time,’ he added. EDM Group expects the proportion of its revenue generated from the mortgage sector will significantly increase over the next few years because of the huge challenges facing lenders and intermediaries with regards to information management. Continue reading
Recovery in property sales in Spain proving sustainable, latest data suggests
Homes sales in Spain are showing strong growth, up by 13.9% in the second quarter of this year following a rise of 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Public Works. It is the six quarter in a row when sales have increased year on year, suggesting that the recovery in the Spanish real estate market is being sustained. It is also the second best quarter since 2010. However, the market still has some way to go to its pre-crisis level as sales are 58% lower than the peak of 2006. A breakdown of the figures shows that some 12.5% of sales were for new homes and sales increased in 14 regions, as well as in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and fell in three. The biggest increases were in La Rioja with growth of 44.2%, Ceuta and Melilla at 33.9%, the Balearic Islands at 30.1%, Cantabria at 29.4% and Murcia at 25.7%. Sales fell by 14.7% in Navarra, by 1.5% in Extremadura and by 0.6% in the Basque Country. Overseas buyers living in Spain accounted for 17.2% of sales while sales to non-resident foreigners amounted to 5%. Alicante had the highest number of foreign buyers at 4,141, Málaga 2,517, Barcelona 1,470, Madrid 1,173 and Tenerife 1,099. The sustained recovery is also confirmed in the latest figures from the General Council of Notaires, showing that the property market grew by 11% in July compared to the same month in 2014. The data shows that the Spanish property market has expanded in nine of the last 12 months with only January and February seeing sales fall. According to Mark Stucklin, of Spanish Property Insight one of the main factors behind rising home sales is easier, cheaper mortgage credit. There were 17,450 new mortgages signed in July, up 27% on the same month last year, taking the number of sales involving mortgage financing to 46%, highest level since the boom years in the middle of the previous decade. Prices area also starting to recover. The data from the official house price index published by the National Institute of Statistics shows that they rose by 4% over the 12 months to the second quarter of 2015. The Balearics saw the biggest rise in prices with growth of 7.3%, driven by a 7.8% rise in new build prices and a 7.4% rise in resale prices. Indeed, new and resale house prices have been rising since the second quarter of last year, and the trend appears to be picking up speed for both new and resale properties. But figures from the Notaries suggest that prices are not yet in recovery mode. The data from them shows prices down by 0.3% in the second quarter of the year. But Stucklin believes that there are reasons to be sceptical about the index. Compared to 2007, Spanish house prices are down 33%, according to the index with resale prices down 40% and new build… Continue reading
Survey reveals positive attitude to renting in the UK
The majority of tenants in the UK private rented sector are satisfied with their current landlord with only 5% refused a longer term tenancy, new research shows. Overall 65% of tenants believe their rental payment represents ‘good’ or ‘very good’ value for money and have positive attitudes towards renting, according to the study commissioned by Paragon Mortgages. The quarter two tenant market analysis, carried out by BDRC Continental, reported a rise in tenant satisfaction with 80% satisfied with their current landlord and 87% of tenants now regarding their rented property as their home rather than a short term arrangement. The research also highlighted that the average duration of tenants living in their current rented property in the second quarter of 2015 was seven years, with the typical total stay in the private rented sector being 12 years. When asked about their long term housing plans some 35% of participating tenants intend to remain within the sector and 24% intended to buy a house in the future, with the proportion of respondents citing the unaffordability of housing as the reason for renting privately increasing from 69% to 74%. ‘This research provides a valuable insight into the sector. There are many surveys of landlords and many academic reports on the PRS. There are, however, too few surveys that poll tenants directly on their experience of renting privately,’ said John Heron, managing director of Paragon Mortgages. ‘This survey has identified high levels of tenant satisfaction and an appreciation of the good value that rented accommodation can offer across the country. It is more disappointing though to see that affordability constraints are impacting negatively on future choices in housing with less than a quarter of tenants expecting to buy their own home in due course,’ he added. Continue reading
