Housing market

The Buy to Let Business has today launched the industry's first buy-to-let mortgage club.

House prices rose by 1.3% in August, the largest monthly increase since January 2010, according to data released by Nationwide.

House prices across England and Wales rose 0.3% over the past year, buoyed by continued growth in the London market, according to the latest house price data from the Land Registry.

Santander, the UK's second largest mortgage lender, has been criticised for hiking its standard variable rate (SVR) by 0.5% - to 4.74% - a move expected to affect several hundred thousand customers.

The proportion of borrowers remortgaging increased to four in ten last month, which could signal the start of a rush as fixed rates continue to fall for home owners with a large deposit, said an adviser.

Robert Sinclair, chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), has said the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has "lost the plot" over its decision to allow Tesco to sell non-advised mortgages.

Tesco Bank has made a move into the mortgage market by launching a range of non-advised deals.

Abbey for Intermediaries is to reduce rates on a number of its mortgage products.

UK house prices declined for the fourth time in five months in July, with prices falling by 0.7%, reported Nationwide.

The number of mortgage applications approved by banks fell sharply in June as the UK was hit by the wettest month on record, figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) show.