Innovation and service is the key, says CML head

It is time for the £1.2 trillion UK mortgage lending industry to pull together, focus on quality, and innovate for the good of customers and the long-term health of the UK housing market, according to Council of Mortgage Lenders chairman Martijn Van der Heijden.

 

Speaking on Friday to an audience of over 600 at the CML annual lunch, he said: “I think we have to get more honest, more transparent, more intelligible, to our customers. We need to be clear about what we provide and how we provide it. 

 

“More importantly, we need to make a true cultural shift from a sales culture to a service culture.

 

“Somehow, after deregulation but before the credit crunch, mortgage lending sleepwalked into becoming a commoditised sales business rather than a true customer relationship business. It took the credit crunch to wake everyone up, and now we need to make sure we stay awake.

 

“However, increasing confidence should not simply mean defaulting to the ultra-conservative.

 

“What we shouldn’t do is build in a safety buffer on capital, a safety buffer on conduct, a safety buffer on market differentiation, and end up with a small market of homogenous offerings. There may be pressure from regulators to do so, but to throw away our diverse market place would be an eternal shame and won’t help society.”

 

However, Van der Heijden suggested that the industry needs to support regulators more actively when scrutiny is legitimate.

 

He said: “We should be braver about standing up for doing the right thing, and doing business in the right way. What we shouldn’t do is turn a blind eye. While we should defend our turf against regulatory excess, we should equally support efforts to identify areas where there are attempts to circumvent rules and allow poor lending to slip through the net.”

New Source: Intorducer Today

 

Emphasising the importance of innovation, he said: “Too often in the past, innovation was a euphemism for higher risk. That kind of innovation is not what I mean at all. What I mean by innovation is making it simpler for the customer, providing solutions where there aren’t any. 

 

“Creativity and innovation can be a challenge for lending businesses operating in a cost-controlled environment.

 

“But necessity is the mother of invention, and we are the people who have to do this. Innovation won’t invent itself.”

UK workers face desperate times as cost of living soars

Rising energy prices are savagely reducing the quality of life for some of the poorest members of our society, the UNISON union has warned.

The situation is so bad for some public services workers that they are only putting the heating on when the temperature drops below freezing, or are going to bed early to keep warm.

As well as forcing workers to make significant reductions to their outgoings, such as selling a family car - as reported by one UNISON member - low-paid workers are having to forego even small luxuries, such as a trip to the cinema, so crippling their energy bills have become.

Another member, applying to the union for a winter fuel grant, said that they could only afford to put the heating on at the weekends, so that the house was warm for when their grandchildren came to visit.

The shocking impact that exorbitant energy costs are having has been highlighted by There for You: supporting UNISON members when life gets tough - the charity arm of UNISON, the UK's largest union.

There for You, which provides grants to UNISON members who are experiencing financial difficulties ranging from struggling with mortgage repayments, to small loans to buy clothing such as school uniforms, paid out more than £750,000 in grants in 2011 - and increase of more than 11% since 2010.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: "The pay freeze is really hurting many public service workers and their families. It is a disgrace that working people have to turn to welfare grants just to buy basics like clothing - for which we've seen a more-than-500% increase - and to pay their household bills. The soaring cost of energy is pushing many family budgets over the edge.

"The sun may be shining now, but winter will be here before we know it, and it is a scandal that exorbitant energy prices are having such a massive impact on the quality of life of some of the poorest workers in our society. The fact that they are having to take measures as extreme as only putting the heating on when the temperature hits freezing shows just how bad the situation has become.

"Low-paid public sector workers are the backbone of our society, and the Government should be ashamed that these people are having to make such enormous sacrifices and struggling just to keep warm. UNISON questions what the role of the utilities watchdogs is when the poorest in our society cannot heat their homes, while utilities companies continue to rake in massive profits for their shareholders. Heat is a basic human need, not a luxury to be rationed, and we urge the Government to act now to turn this situation around before it ends in tragedy."


Source  NEWS : Investor Today

Bridging lender sued over mortgage fraud case

Bridging lender West One Loans has declined to comment after being drawn into a legal battle involving a property fraud.

The lender is being sued after one of its investors lost £235,000. Nick Clarke alleges that West One Loans acted in breach of contract over a loan raised on a property in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, London.

West One Loans lent a total of £575,000 to someone claiming to be Massimo Barbini, the registered owner of the property. However, the Land Registry spotted a signature which did not match any in previous records, and uncovered the fraud.

The fraudster has apparently not been traced. Clarke says West One Loans owed him a ‘duty of care' and that it should have obtained valid security for the loan and verified the real identity and address of the borrower.

Clarke has hired top law firm Mishcon de Reya, and is seeking the return of the £235,000 cash plus interest and costs.

The case is due in the High Court on July 6.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) explained it had no remit in this area.

“We license providers of bridging loans and we would be interested in the contractual relationship between the lender and the consumer, but this is a B2B dispute,” it said.

Mark Abrahams, CEO of West One Loans, said: “Sadly, we cannot comment on this investor matter as it’s subject to ongoing legal proceedings. Having said that, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the robust best-practice measures West One Loans has in place to combat fraud.”

Gowan Avenue, Fulham, achieved notoriety when the TV presenter Jill Dando, who had a home there, was killed on the doorstep.

NEWS Source : Letest Property News