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Scotland's share of new UK mortgages grew by almost a third in the first three months of this year, and the fall in new lending over the same period was less than half that of England and Wales, according to the Council for Mortgage Lending.

The council's figures, drawn from 21 active mortgage lenders in Scotland, show that there were 20 per cent fewer home loans issued in Scotland in the first quarter of this year compared with the year before. In the UK as a whole, however, there was a 40 per cent decline, year on year.

Vince Cable claims Northern Rock used unconventional accounting practices that flattered the level of bad debts in its mortgage book.

An investigation by the mortgage bank’s new management has revealed that Northern Rock did not always consider customers to be in arrears until they were more than three months behind with their payments.

The Lib Dems claim this practice undermines the repeated claims by Adam Applegarth, Northern Rock’s former chief executive, that the bank’s mortgage book was of a higher quality than the industry average.

The Lib Dems are writing to Alistair Darling, the chancellor, calling for a full independent audit of Northern Rock’s previously issued accounts. It would be designed to assess whether the Bank of England and the Treasury were misled on the health of the company’s finances when agreeing to lend taxpayers’ money.

Cable said: “Given the amount of public funding that’s been involved, I would have thought there might well be a case here.

“The government tried to argue that all this was caused by events from outer space, that had nothing to do with Northern Rock, and that Northern Rock was run by entirely competent sensible people. It’s subsequently emerged that they weren’t and that they made serious errors.”

Northern Rock’s most recent trading statement revealed that the level of arrears in the bank’s mortgage book had doubled in the first four months of the year.

On the same day, the Woolwich - the mortgage arm of Barclays - is putting up the cost of mortgages sold through brokers by up to 0.3%.

A survey shows that the average mortgage deal is now on offer for only 11 days, down from 30 days a year ago.

Nationwide said residential lending figures declined to £6.7bn in the year to April 4, from £11.2bn in the previous year. That gave it a market share of 7.1%, down from 11% in the previous year.

According to revised figures, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) house prices will fall by 7% in 2008, in contrast to its previous expectations of a 1% rise.

Today's figures also reveal gross mortgage lending had been expected to total £340 billion this year but is now forecast to reach £285 billion in 2008. Over the same period, the number of house sales are predicted to fall from one million to 770,000

With the government beset by near-daily gaffes, Caroline Flint inadvertently revealed her grim forecast when she was photographed walking into Downing Street with her briefing papers visible.

Closer inspection revealed details that said: "We can't tell how bad it will get." The briefing paper, which was visible to photographers through a plastic folder, also revealed that she intends to announce extra help for first time buyers today, mainly by extending shared equity schemes.

The unintended disclosure is deeply embarrassing for the government since ministers have privately said that they want to do nothing to increase pessimism about house prices for fear of talking the economy into a recession.

The government, as opposed to the Bank of England, does not normally make forecasts on house prices.

Sales of mortgages through brokers have soared in recent months as consumers have sought help to get the best deal due to the tough conditions in the market. Many of the best deals have only been available for a few hours before being pulled, and consumers have preferred having a specialist on their side to help them to get the lowest-cost loan.

However, the increase in sales through intermediaries has seen lenders forced to pay more out in commission, as branch sales of mortgages, which deliver higher margins, have fallen away. As a result, many lenders have begun offering better deals in their branches, in an effort to tempt customers away from the brokers – creating a dual-priced market.

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has complained to the Financial Services Authority, claiming consumers are getting a raw deal because of the high-street lenders' actions. It is also believed to have brought the matter to the attention of the Office of Fair Trading, in the hope that they too may get involved in straightening out the market.

Chris Cummings, the director general of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, said: "Lenders have seen branch-based business really suffering. So in order to try and balance their business, instead of offering equal access to products across all channels, they've started introducing mortgages that are only available directly and not to intermediaries.

"Lenders are under pressure to rebuild their capital position, and as a result are trying to increase margins and drive more people through their branches. But we've taken this up with the FSA and have said it's consumers who are losing out on this."

However, the Council of Mortgage Lenders denied consumers were losing out, insisting their members were not doing anything wrong. Sue Anderson of the CML said: "I think this is just a side-effect of the market conditions at the moment. There's nothing wrong contractually with what lenders are doing. Dual pricing already exists in a lot of other financial product lines.

"Lenders have to do what is right for their business, right for their customers and, as long as it's transparent, which it is, then there's nothing wrong with it."

So far, the FSA appears to have been unmoved by the mortgage brokers' arguments, pointing out under its regulations lenders are not obliged to deal through brokers. It said in a statement: "If certain lenders decide to offer their direct customers cheaper deals, we do not see that customers' best interests would be served by preventing this."

First-time buyers are finding it even more of a stretch to get a foot on the ladder as higher deposits are demanded from lenders.

A number of smaller building societies, including Bath Building Society and Earl Shilton Building Society, withdrew all their mortgage products this week after they were unable to secure funding.

As cheap deals disappear, mortgage borrowers are facing "payment shock" when their fixed-rate mortgage ends, analysts said. More than a million fixed-rate deals, which generally last for two years, are set to expire this year.

Among the big lenders, the Halifax and the Woolwich have increased the interest rates on certain tracker or fixed-rate deals while making other deals only available to those able to put down deposits of 40 per cent. The Cheltenham & Gloucester, part of Lloyds TSB, has also increased the interest rate charges on some deals.

However, larger banks with smaller subsidiary companies, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group, which owns the First Active, NatWest and Direct Line brands, as well as Ireland's Ulster Bank, appear to be better weathering the storm.

The combined effect of interest rate rises and a tightening in the credit market has begun to take its toll.

According to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), almost 7,600 landlords are in arrears. (up from about 6,050 in the previous quarter)

On last years figures the number is up 54 per cent.

Savers now face a second round of reductions, while experts warn that millions of borrowers are unlikely to see their repayments fall by the full quarter point – giving banks’ profits an instant boost.

Abbey, Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds TSB have all hit savers with cuts of up to 0.25 points in recent weeks, but they have yet to announce their mortgage rates. Analysts said it was unusual for so many of the big banks to slash savings rates in anticipation of a rate cut – and have warned savers that they will probably fall again
The banks will now come under intense pressure to show their hands, as research for The Sunday Times by AWD Chase de Vere, an adviser, showed the rate ploy could make the banks an estimated £26m a monthThe Bank of England last week chopped rates from 5.75% to 5.5% – the first reduction since August 2005. While an estimated 3m borrowers on tracker mortgages benefited immediately because their loans automatically follow Bank rate, another 2.2m pay the lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) and a further 1.2m are on discounts linked to the standard rate.

Lenders have complete discretion over when they cut SVRs, and by how much, and there are growing fears that many will take the opportunity to rebuild their margins in the wake of the global credit crunch.

Sue Hannums of AWD Chase de Vere said: “Many banks have been quietly cutting savings rates over the past few weeks in the hope that we won’t notice when they chop rates again following the latest base-rate move. Add the fact that SVRs are unlikely to come down by the full quarter point, and banks have a great opportunity to boost their margins.”

Halifax, Britain’s biggest lender, was quick off the mark last week in announcing its SVR would go down by the full quarter point, from 7.75% to 7.5% – though not until January 1.

Halifax savers, meanwhile, have already had rates slashed by up to 0.25 percentage points and the chances are they will fall again after the bank refused to rule out further cuts.

Nationwide is the only other major lender to have moved with a full quarter-point reduction in its SVR.

Ray Boulger at John Charcol, a broker, said: “I think the number of lenders who pass on the full rate cut will be in the minority, and I expect a few will not cut their SVRs at all.”

Egg set the tone when it reduced its SVR by just 0.15 points last week, from 6.94% to 6.79%, from January 1.

Lending requirements are becoming stricter as mortgage companies look to cut loan-to-value rates and "clean up" their mortgage books by weeding out less creditworthy customers, pointed out Jonathan Cornell, managing director of Hamptons Mortgages.

He said: "Lenders are finding it harder and harder to securitise subprime mortgages, so they are trying to make their subprime books cleaner."

Lenders such as Accord Mortgages have cut loan-to-value rates for medium and heavy adverse borrowers to 75 per cent, down from 85 per cent. They have also reduced the number of county court judgments acceptable. C&G has changed the rates for its higher LTV products of 90 to 100 per cent, as well. Its two-year fixed-rate mortgage with £995 fee for LTVs in this range is up from 6.38 per cent to 6.58 per cent. And its two-year tracker is now 6.48 per cent with a £995 fee instead of 6.28 per cent.

Analysts expect other lenders will begin to charge steeper rates for higher LTVs, leaving the competitive rates on LTVs of 75 per cent or less.

Ever since the US credit problems and Northern Rock this summer, it has looked likely to make mortgages scarcer and more expensive. Hard evidence of that arrived on Thursday as the Bank of England published figures showing that mortgage approvals fell to 88,000 in October, down 12 per cent in a month and the lowest level in almost three years.

The supply of mortgages must be playing a factor here: it is banks and specialist lenders – both of whom rely on financing from the wholesale markets – that have pulled back sharply. Building societies, who rely on depositors, seem to be doing business as usual.

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank, has blamed this fall on a drop in demand. True, since mortgage rates have not spiked upwards, demand seems to have fallen to match the supply shortage. That is not wholly comforting.

Buy to let investers have been put off investing in property, in the short term.

Enquiries from new buyers fell for the 10th month in a row and at the fastest rate since March 2003.

RICS said the prospect of tighter borrowing criteria as a result of recent turbulence caused by the Northern Rock's problems was mainly to blame for the slide in demand.

The introduction of the governments ill advised Home Information Packs was also causing problems.

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With ongoing growth and the UK property market brimming with confidence as investors make their first forays in the market, the positive figures form the British Bankers' Association (BBA) may well spur people on to purchase.

The research by the BBA found the highest-ever recorded mortgage figures for the year, with the gross lending total reaching new records.

The figures come off the back of further research this week that many students' parents are considering exposure to the buy-to-let property market as the rates for student rent rocket nationwide. A well executed buy-to-let property plan allows investors the opportunity to gain capital returns while accruing the market value for their investment.

The property investor from East Sussex has taken out a £200,000 buy-to-let mortgage.

Most lenders set a limit at 75 years for mortgage applicants but a handful, including Woolwich, and Bristol & West, have no such restrictions. This has led to a rush of applications from older investors.

Mortgagmap can get you a mortgage or loan whatever your credit situation. For a mortgage, CLICK HERE. For a Loan, CLICK HERE.

However research shows that these fees can be inflated by as much as 1,500 %.

Most lenders charge £25-£30 for one off electronic payments, but large users such as mortgage lenders can negotiate a discount of around 90 per cent, so the real cost is under £3.

Not only that, but lenders that are clearing banks will not even incur this charge. With well over a miliion mortgage transactions a year borrowers are collectively overpaying for these fees by £23 million.

The pioneering technology now means that the time-line for obtaining a full mortgage offer has been reduced from weeks to a matter of minutes.

GMAC, which offers mortgages only through brokers like Mortgagemap has made point of sale offers available to a controlled group of mortgage brokers and packagers with effect from today.

If you want to find out more information on standard valuation types please visit our House Buying Process section where you will find pages that give information on Valuations.

Abbey is aiming to make life easier for first-time buyers to enter the property market. Many of Abbey's first-time buyer mortgages come with free valuation fees and £250 cashback upon completion to help firts timers with costs.

How refreshing is that -- not all lenders imposing a rate rise straight away? However, eight lenders have upped their SVR by more than the base rate increase, some by as much as 0.35 percent.

Britannia, Nationwide and National Counties building societies have risen 0.35 percent, while a string of others have lifted their rates by 0.30 or 0.27 percent. 

Britannia and Nationwide rises -- to 6.45 and 6.24 percent respectively -- came as little surprise. With both rates still below the market average, they will have used the opportunity to squeeze a bit more profit from their borrowers.

As a result, those customers will now need to review their current mortgage deal and look to lock in good value.

With this in mind, Leeds Building Society has launched a new 3-year fixed rate mortgage at only 4.49%, which is currently the lowest 3-year fixed rate available in the market.

Stuart Fearn, Product Development Manager said "This product allows customers to fix their payments at a rate which is significantly lower than any other 3-year fixed rate in the market and 0.26% below base rate. It is available up to 80% loan to value, provides flexibility by allowing 10% capital repayments each year without penalty and there is no higher lending charge.

Rival Woolwich's offset lifetime tracker has no time limit. It will track base rate plus 0.48% (4.98%) for the life of the loan making monthly repayments of £584 and has an arrangement fee of £595. There are no penalties for paying off the mortgage early and you can borrow up to 80% of your home's value.

Offset mortgages work best for those with savings and healthy current account balances. By linking the mortgage to your credit balances, much of your mortgage does not attract interest. Someone with a £100,000 loan and £15,000 in savings, would pay interest only on the difference of £85,000.

Home Cellars, the brainchild of investment company and wine merchant Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments, is a mortgage repayment plan in which your mortgage is secured on the basis of the wine in your cellar.

Home Cellars works in a roughly similar way to the now-discredited endowment mortgages of the early 1990s. The money you invest as a borrower is used to buy a portfolio of fine wines. The idea is that over the years the value of the wines increases to the value of the loan.

If you are lucky you may have enough to pay off the loan and get to keep some of the wine at the end.

Apparently this has already happened, Stacey-Lea Golding, investment director of Premier Cru told decanter.com.

One client arranged a £60,000 mortgage ten years ago. The entire value of the £60,000 was put into wine. 'Now the mortgage has not only been repaid in full but she also has £90,000 of wine left.'

The portfolio of wines is constantly changing, but its core is blue-chip Bordeaux hedged with top-level cru-bourgeois and solid lower growths. In the 82s there will be all the first growths as well as wines like Lynch Bages and Leoville Las Cases. In the 2005s they are avoiding the most outrageously priced and going for quality lower down the scale. The company concentrates on increasing the quality of the portfolio by selling off lesser wines as they mature and buying more blue-chip like Petrus.

As proof of the solidity of the investment, Premier Cru demonstrates via a graph on its website how a £10,000 investment in a fine wine fund in 1990 is now worth £89,760. This is against the £39,145 that the FTSE All Share Index would have delivered over the same period.

The plan is similar to an endowment policy, with a mortgage holder paying monthly sums into the Home Cellars scheme. That money is then used to buy fine wines, which belong to the mortgage holder, who pays a monthly charge for their cellaring. The owner can even drink some the wines, bearing in mind this will reduce the value of the overall holding.

Whether this will attract new mortgage buyers – Golding insists the plan is for all homeowners, not just super-rich wine investors – is a moot point.

We at Mortgagemap are unconvinced of its reliability. We would never recommend anyone using this as the sole repayment vehicle for their home unless they have a very high attitude to mortgage risk.

Housing minister Yvette Cooper announced this week that the expected 7,000 new inspectors needed to write the reports may not be in place by next June when mandatory sellers' packs begin. The packs, estimated to cost sellers about £1,000 to compile, are an attempt to speed up the process of buying and selling houses.

But did you really expect anything organised by John Prescott to be a success?

Mortgagemap believes that the cost to the seller and the workload related to HCRs would have a major detrimental effect on the housing market.

Without the HCR survey, the packs will now merely contain legal documents, building work guarantees and an energy certificate.

The new mortgage allows people to borrow 100% of their share of the property without any higher lending fee.(MIG) The Leeds will consider applicants with county court judgments (CCJ's), mortgage or rent arrears and defaults.

If you wish to speak to a bad credit mortgage broker complete our ENQUIRY FORM.

For more information on bad credit mortgages, click here. For information on shared ownership, click here.

A fees free version of its latest mortgage product is also available from Leeds Building Society for those who require help with fees.

Free in-house legal services for remortgages, no completion fees and free valuation up to £335 are all part of the latest Leeds Building Society Ten-year Fixed Rate Mortgage offer.

Aimed at first-time buyers training or working in specific professions, the Bradford and Bingley First-Time Buyer Mortgage is the first mortgage of its type. Solicitors, accountants and actuaries are now able to apply for the mortgage for their first home even as they are training to be fully qualified.

Most similar mortgages aimed at first-time buyers insist that the applicant is fully qualified already, but Bradford & Bingley is prepared people still training.

A spokesman at Bradford & Bingley, said: "We felt that there was a gap in the first time buyer market, which other lenders had been slow to explore."

TV shows such as the BBC's Would You Buy a House with a Stranger? Demonstrate the lengths to which some people will now go to get onto the property ladder.

There are similar mortgages already available but this offers more attractive features such as a mix of higher income multiples and lower interest rates.

The man considered to be the head of the group, 54 year old John Michael Doust, was arrested at Málaga airport as he was trying to leave the country with his wife Marina who has also been arrested.

It’s thought the couple belonged to a group based in Estepona which had been offering ‘attractive conditions’ to investors since 2000 for mortages. The conditions however meant high initial payments. A third un-named person was also arrested in Estepona as part of the operation.

The name used by the group was The Mortgage Group Iberia, a company registered in the Dominican Republic and promised a 98% success rate to find mortgages in 30 days. They used a company called Midas Foundation which supposedly supplied the credit, but never actually made the credit firm, despite charging an initial 650 € for costs and between 1% and 2% of the mortgage in charges, monies which were never returned to the victims.

Direct Line Mortgages (Part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group) believes that people looking to take on a remortgage face a dilemma about whether to take on a fixed rate or a tracker mortgage.

When taking up either mortgage option with Direct Line, customers are entitled to 20 per cent off Direct line home insurance and which comes with two years' free Direct Line home emergency cover.

David Dyer, Direct Line Mortgages commercial director, said: "Fixed rate mortgages offer the security which many customers feel most comfortable with and of late, the two year fixed rate has been the most popular type of mortgage in the country."

The new Direct Line Mortgage has been launched at a time when lenders are tending towards tracker mortgages because of the lower rates offered but Direct Line's three and five year fixed rate mortgages are still being offered at very competitive rates.

The new Alliance & Leicester mortgages offer a two-year base rate tracker for remortgagers with the intermediary special while the five-year discount mortgage has been described as fully flexible.

Remortgagers can borrow 95% loan to value, at 0.01 per cent below the Bank of England base rate for two years with the new base rate tracker and free valuation is included in the package.

With the five-year discount mortgage the offer is a 1.8 % discount on Alliance & Leicester's standard variable rate for five years, the fully flexible features allow borrowers to make overpayments and then borrow money back later.

Mehrdad Yousefi, head of intermediary mortgages, said: "We are introducing a special two year base rate tracker re-mortgage; this deal offers a highly competitive tracker rate. We're also continuing to buck the trend by cutting the product fee on our five-year discount deal."