News in brief - 11 March 2026

Hanley Economic Building Society has appointed Mark Curran as a non-executive director and chair of its risk committee. He has more than 38 years of experience across retail, commercial and business banking, global payments and large-scale banking transformation. Curran’s career has included senior roles across the financial services sector, alongside extensive board-level and industry leadership experience. Most recently, he served as customer banking director at TSB Bank and was a member of the bank’s executive committee. Curran also spent seven years as a board director of Faster Payments Scheme Limited, helping oversee the UK’s real-time payments system. A Fellow of the Chartered Banker Institute since 2006, he is also a strong supporter of developing future talent within financial services.

Access Financial Services is opening a new London Office in Canary Wharf. The new hub, which was recently vacated by JP Morgan, will provide a central base for advisers working in and around London and the South East. The building offers flexible and affordable office space with good connectivity for its advisers. Access FS said the move reflects its continued growth and ambition to support its expanding team with high-quality working environments in key financial centres.

BuildLoan has launched a new light renovation range, designed for properties requiring only non-structural renovation works but are not currently in a mortgageable condition. The new range has been designed to close the gap between residential mortgages, bridging and heavy renovation finance. It aims to offer broader suitability for non-structural works with a streamlined application process and reduced fee structure, enabling people to get funding to buy, remortgage and renovate a property easily. The products within the range allows customers to borrow up to 85% of the property purchase price or value and up to 100% of the renovation costs.



Share Story:

Recent Stories


FREE E-NEWS SIGN UP

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news and other industry announcements by email.

  Please tick here to confirm you are happy to receive third party promotions from carefully selected partners.


Mortgage Advice Bureau and AI in the mortgage sector
Chief executive officer at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Peter Brodnicki, and founder and managing director at Heron Financial, Matt Coulson, joined content editor Dan McGrath to discuss how Mortgage Advice Bureau is using artificial intelligence to make advancements in the mortgage industry, the limitations of this technology and what 2026 will hold for the market

Perenna and the long-term fixed mortgage market
Content editor, Dan McGrath, spoke to head of product, proposition and distribution at Perenna, John Davison, to explore the long-term fixed mortgage market, the role that Perenna plays in this sector and the impact of the recent Autumn Budget

NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?

Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?



In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.

Advertisement