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2 April 08 - Mortgages Halted For New Customers
First Direct has withdrawn its mortgages for new customers
saying it is "taking a breather" after receiving
five times the usual volume of applications in recent weeks.
The decision comes as NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland,
part of the same group, and Kent Reliance Building Society
became the first lenders this year to raise their variable
mortgage rates for existing customers.
First Direct, which is owned by HSBC, said the "unprecedented"
level of business it is receiving had meant processing applications
was taking longer than it liked. It added that it had decided
to withdraw its range for people who were not already customers
until it had cleared the backlog, rather than raise its
rates in a bid to discourage borrowers.
First Direct chief executive Chris Pilling told reporters:
"The flood of interest in our mortgages has meant we're
taking longer than we'd like to handle applications, especially
from non-customers.
News items supplied by SelectNews, produced by PA Business,
part of the group that owns The Press Association, the UK's
national news agency. Copyright (c) PA Business 2007.
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