Last week Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his first – and last! – Autumn Statement. Mr Hammond declared there to be no need for two economic statements each year and, as such, as of next year the Budget will be delivered in the autumn and the spring statement will be scrapped. Housing, as expected, was a…
If you’re planning to buy a property you’re no doubt feeling somewhat uncertain right now. 2016 has not gone the way anybody expected. A decision to leave the EU. a new Prime Minister and Cabinet. The second labour leadership contest in a year. It’s safe to say the last 12 months have been unprecedented. It’s…
With interest rates now at the record low of 0.25% if you’re coming to the end of a fixed rate deal you may be starting to think about what to do next. When you come to the end of your mortgage deal you have three options, you can stay on your lender’s standard variable rate…
If you have an existing mortgage and are looking to move to a new property you have a couple of options. You can remortgage to a new lender or you can move your mortgage from your current property to the property you wish to buy. This is called porting. Most lenders allow mortgages to be…
Homeowners could be able to remortgage their home within just a week, under new plans announced in the Queen’s Speech. At the moment it can take anywhere between six weeks and three months to switch mortgage providers, much to the frustration of everyone involved! These new plans, currently being considered by the government, could speed…
Given the state of uncertainty the country currently finds itself it would be a brave (or should that be foolish?) man who would make any predictions right now. Who will be Labour leader, whether the pound will recover, when the next General Election will happen or what the terms of our EU exit will be.…
Interest only mortgages were a hugely popular product, which allowed borrowers to pay the interest on their mortgage each month and not any of the actual debt. Paying just the interest meant the borrower’s monthly repayments were significantly lower than they would be for a repayment mortgage. Unsurprisingly therefore, interest only mortgages were popular with…
If you’re a first time buyer looking to get onto the property ladder your main focus is probably raising a deposit. And rightly so. The bigger the deposit you can put down the cheaper your mortgage will be. If you have a large deposit you’re deemed less risky and therefore lenders will look upon you…
As a society, we’re changing. We’re living longer. We’re more active in later life. And, though not always through choice, we’re waiting longer to buy properties. And the mortgage market is finally starting to reflect that. For many years mortgage lenders required borrowers to have paid off their mortgages by the age of 75 at…
You may have heard a lot in the press about 100% mortgages with some articles criticising such products and others applauding their return. But what exactly is a 100% mortgage and why are they causing so much fuss? 100% mortgages are simply mortgages which cover the whole of the purchase price of a property. Normally…
