No need to ‘panic buy’ mortgages

No need to ‘panic buy’ mortgages just yet. There’s plenty to go around! In fact, lenders are in the middle of an amazing interest rate price war.

Just in the last few days, we’ve seen lenders looking at 5% deposit mortgages cut rates to below 2.7%. This is a fantastic reduction and shows that lenders are trying to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder. Some lenders are also offering free mortgage valuations for this sector.

For those with a 10% deposit, we are seeing rates being offered below 1.8% and some offerings with a £1,000 cashback!

For homeowners, and those with a bigger deposit, the competition is fierce. Rates are now as low as 0.79% for a two-year fixed, 0.89% for a three-year fixed and 0.97% for a five-year fixed rate. Most come with free valuations and on remortgages, free legals. They are changing all the time, so by the time this is published, these may have changed!

We’ve also seen one lender increase their income multiples for high earners to 5.5 x joint incomes. This means that those earning jointly over £100,000 per annum, can apply of these new and increased income multiples. Lenders will look at your overall affordability, income, expenditures, liabilities, etc before confirming these calculations. But in the main, this is a great move by the lender and is available right up to 90% loan to value.

Obviously, all of the above have terms and conditions and are subject to individual circumstances.

Finally, let’s remember that the lender’s surveyor always has the final say. So, you might find your dream home at £400k. But the estate agent ‘suggests’ you offer £410k to secure it. You get the property at £410k, great news. But your mortgage lenders surveyor says sorry, it’s only worth £400k. Therefore, there is a £10k difference and that’s money YOU will have to find as the lender will only lend against their surveyors recommended valuation. We’ve seen this a few times recently, so be aware when you’re paying over the asking price!