Mortgages

Lending institutions in the European Union, particularly banks, will have to adhere to a new set of rules when offering mortgages, according to a new directive which entered into law books yesterday. Through the introduction of the Mortgage Credit Directive, clients should find it easier to shop around when choosing a financial lending institution for mortgages. However, although the directive is another step towards the creation of a single market even for home loans, it is still practically impossible for a Maltese borrower to shop for a home loan in...

A self-cert lender operating outside the UK offering mortgages which do not require income verification or advice has launched today. Payday lender Quick Loans will sell mortgages only accessible through the internet from its domain name selfcert.co.uk. A report on The Times states the lender will launch with a tracker mortgage 2% higher than the Bank Base Rate. It is understood that loans will be capped at £500,000 with a maximum loan-to-value of 85%. Fees are expected to be around £600. The lender’s offices will be...

By Adam EastonBBC News, Warsaw20 January 2015Image caption, Poles, Hungarians, Croats and Austrians were encouraged to take out Swiss franc mortgagesIt's a very worrying time for many thousands of people in central and eastern Europe, as they helplessly watch the Swiss franc rise against their local currencies and see their mortgage repayments go up and up.An estimated 566,000 Poles have taken out Swiss franc-denominated loans, that's about 37% of all mortgages here.By Tuesday, the Swiss franc had risen 21% against the Polish zloty, following the Swiss National Bank's decision to...