Coventry Building Society are to merge with Stroud & Swindon Building Society on 1st September this year. This merger will cement the Coventry’s position as the third largest Building Society. After the announcement Fitch confirmed Coventry was to maintain its “A” rating with a stable outlook.
The change is Stamp Duty Land Tax threshold from £125,000 to £250,000 for First Time Buyers, has been generally welcomes through the industry, although there have been the obvious cries for this to be extended to all buyers. There are concerns as to the definition of the First Time Buyers and the potential loopholes that could be exploited to avoid this charge. This incentive will be funded by an increase of stamp duty to 5% for properties over £1m which will come into effect in April 2011.
Virgin Money has announced it will be launching its new mortgage product range at the end of the year. They have also confirmed that although they will launch direct only initially they do consider Mortgage Brokers as a key distribution channel. Watch this space.
Andrew Fowler worked for Limetree Financial Services until December 2010. Feel free to contact another member of our team for help or advice.
