Category: Blogs

The word to sum up these last three months is ‘uncertainty’

With the first quarter of 2019 now over, we can safely say that the word to sum up these three months is uncertainty. Already we’ve seen three lenders stop lending or pull all of their products due to ‘costs of funding’ and ‘uncertain times ahead’.  This is all a bit ‘de ja vu’ compared to back […]

Confusion regarding Buy to Lets and how lenders look at affordability.

Last weekend, we exhibited at the Property Investor and Homebuyers show at the London ExCel.  It was a great opportunity to talk to professional landlords, as well as those looking to take their first steps onto the Buy to Let sector ladder. With many changes and increases in taxation on profits being recently introduced along […]

Self Employed? Not a problem..

A large myth suggests that because you are self employed, you will find it harder to get a mortgage. Maybe that was so a few years ago, but not today. Yes, the financial crash took its toll on the self employed and quite rightly killed off the ‘self certification’ type deals (no proof of income).  […]

What is mortgage affordability?

One of the most frequent questions to start a mortgage interview tends to be around ‘How much can I borrow?’.   Only a few years ago, that could easily have been up to 8 x income with the minimal of fuss.  Oh, how things have changed, and rightly so!  Those were times with little control and […]

Coming to the end of your mortgage deal? What next?

Some lenders are distributing letters to those coming to the end of their product term offering them new rates, but indicating a deadline in which to switch.  We had one customer recently who was four months out from their current rate changing from a fixed rate to the lenders Standard Variable Rate.  They were offered some great […]

Another lender closes it’s doors citing ‘cost of funding’. Should we be worried?

I mentioned last week that the mortgage market is buoyant.  And it is.  However, there have been some ‘ripples’ in this with three well known lenders (in the specialist sector) closing their doors, or revisiting their funding options in the first quarter of the year. Sadly, last week there was another casualty of the uncertainty of […]

Some lenders incurring delays due to some amazing deals being available!

The good news is that the mortgage market is really buoyant with good business volumes and mortgage product choice at its highest for some years.  There are some fantastic rates and opportunities for clients, especially pre Brexit. The bad news is that this is causing a number of lenders major servicing problems as they do not […]

Not all mortgage options and information is easily accessible

There’s a world of information and product availability in the mortgage sector.  But not all of it is as easily accessible to the consumer as it should be. Did you know you can borrow 100% of the security property value?  Yes, you might need Mum & Dads help, or another guarantor who may put their property up […]

More changes for Buy to Let – take professional advice

Have you looked at your mortgage requirements recently?  Do you own investment properties?  Do you know about the upcoming changes to EPCs?  Are you prepared for the changes to mortgage interest tax relief? The Buy to Let sector has been through some interesting times and it always seems to be this area that is targeted […]

Over 65? No problem!

Just because you’re over 65, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a mortgage!  But sometimes it can be harder to get a mortgage that is right and affordable, due to age restrictive terms, once you reach a certain milestone with the high street lenders. Often, retired people have managed their finances successfully over the years and […]