Hero (warning: gratuitous plug below)
It’s good to see that brokers are keen to gain a qualification in lifetime mortgages. Information released by the Institute of Financial Services last week showed that the numbers registering to take the qualification are rising steadily.
It’s easy to see why brokers are realising the potential in this market with newly released figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showing the sector is growing year on year. Portman has been a key player in the lifetime market for some time now; we are affiliated to Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) and offer our product exclusively to the intermediary market.
We conducted a number of lifetime mortgage ‘roadshows’ at the beginning of 2005, inviting brokers to a presentation on our product and to discuss the scope for development in this area as a whole. The feedback received from these events was very positive.
With our head office in Bournemouth, a veritable haven for the retired population, we know only too well of the potential for further growth and the emergence of the cash-poor, equity-rich generation.
The fact that brokers are seeking and gaining a qualification in this area adds credibility to lifetime mortgages and will ultimately give borrowers more reassurance when considering this type of loan.
Zero
Big Brother has finally left our screens for another year and with it go the worst examples of modern society in the form of the housemates. Finally the TV screens, newspapers and general gossip columns can return to ‘normality’ as each of the 16 disappear back into relative oblivion, apart from the initial burst of seedy publicity.
Love it or loathe it, this
series has been just as crass as the last five and no doubt the producers will already be thinking of ways to entice the audience back for round seven. And what of the Big Brother house? Would you lend on it?
Considering the property is virtually knocked down and rebuilt for every series, the answer would categorically be no, even with its high-profile status. This time, housemates were even subjected to a leaking roof, perhaps showing why ‘flat-pack’ properties can be a very risky venture.
