Home movers in Scotland in the second quarter of 2010 needed to use less of their income to cover their mortgage interest than anywhere else in the UK, according to new data by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The annual growth in the banks’ net mortgage lending in July was 4.1%, substantially ahead of the 0.9% for the whole mortgage market in June.

Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £13.6 billion in July, a 5% increase from £12.9 billion in June but down 3% from £14 billion in July 2009, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Shareholders of Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) yesterday approved a £20 million capital injection from founding shareholder Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB), which takes QIIB’s stake in the bank to over 80%

For the second consecutive month housing market transactions increased in July. The LSL Acad House Price Index shows that housing transactions rose by 11% to an estimated 72,100 from 64,915 in June.

The freezing up of the buy-to-let mortgage market that emerged as an unwelcome side-effect of the credit crunch appears to have eased a little, according to the latest buy-to-let survey results from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The number of individuals filing for bankruptcy has fallen as has the number of company winding up petitions for dissolving a company that cannot pay its debts, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice.

The number of properties taken into possession by first-charge mortgage lenders continued to fall in the second quarter of 2010, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Chancellor George Osborne announced in his emergency Budget the government’s intention to cut support for borrowers in difficulty. MI

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has set out rules to protect customers in arrears on their mortgages or entering sale and rent back (SRB) agreements. In addition, all mortgage advisers will have to be FSA approved.

The number of days taken to sell possessed property continues to reduce, according to the latest data from Spicerhaart Corporate Sales.

Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) performance was stable across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) during the first quarter of 2010, but some performance concerns persist, says Fitch Ratings in its latest quarterly update.

The downturn in the mortgage market means less opportunity for new fraudsters, nevertheless evidence of mortgage fraud continues to be unearthed by lenders. Rachel Hutton of Optima Legal looks at what the industry is doing to tackle mortgage fraud

Paul Heeley of Glenisters Solicitors says Section 18 of the CCA (on multiple agreements) should be repealed following the Court of Appeal’s rejection of the highly significant Heath case

Changes to the Mortgagee Protection Clause within shared ownership leases should, hopefully, encourage more lenders to lend on these properties. Harry Peradigou of Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP explains

Law Society President Robert Heslett has called on EU Commissioner Michel Barnier to improve the legal protection given to customers' money when a bank collapses.

Mark Riddick of the E-Homebuying Forum describes what the organisation is doing to improve the property buying and selling process and invites more industry players to get involved

Lenders are being advised of further changes to the Civil Procedure Rules, which will affect mortgage repossession claims.

Emerging technologies are supporting property and mortgage professionals in their daily roles. Andy Coles of Quest looks at how IT is creating new efficiencies and cost-savings in the valuations market

Specialist residential mortgage lender Aldermore Mortgages has gone live with a complete end to end mortgage solution from DPR Consulting, deploying DPR’s modern loan servicing system along with the sales, pipeline processing and finance modules.

HML is to make 80 of its staff redundant following a 10 per cent reduction in the number of arrears cases it is managing on behalf of its clients.

Preparing for the Mortgage Market Review could cost the mortgage industry more than £14 million, according to Phoebus Software.

With new ownership, Capstone Mortgage Services, a third party specialist mortgage servicer is to rebrand as Acenden, probably in the fourth quarter of 2010.

New buy-to-let mortgage lender Precise Mortgages is the latest lender to go live with DPR Consulting’s mortgage origination system.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found Yorkshire Building Society in breach of the Data Protection Act after an unencrypted laptop belonging to the former Chelsea Building Society, which had recently merged with YBS, was stolen from its Cheltenham premises.

Metro Bank, the first new High Street bank in over 100 years, has accelerated its store roll out programme. It says this is in light of increasing customer demand for its services.

Coventry Building Society has reported net mortgage lending of £751 million, equivalent to 31% of all net mortgage lending in the UK.

A report from Fitch Ratings says that UK building societies are less likely to face further capital erosion from commercial real estate (CRE) than last year, as they have improved management of their exposure to this sector.

Despite a difficult year for financial services organisations, particularly mortgage lenders, there are some good stories out there - and the Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards enables organisations within the mortgage industry to have their achievements recognised  

Consumer confidence continued to fall during July, according to the Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index.