There are plenty of interest rate options available to the homebuyer when taking out or switching mortgages and this is often the area that causes the most confusion, all of which have their advantages and disadvantages depending on your circumstances. It can be confusing understanding all the features of the different products and knowing which one to choose.
The Prime Minister recently announced the doubling of the number of new homes built as part of the ‘Kickstart’ initiative to open up mothballed sites. The reallocation of government money for housing is a clear and welcome recognition of the importance of the need to maintain housing provision and of house building to the economy.
Expectations that house prices are set to rise have increased for the first time since May 2007 because of the low number of properties on the market and increased interest from potential buyers, according to the latest housing market survey.
The Nationwide Building Society has introduced a mortgage allowing borrowers to take loans worth 125 per cent of the value of the home they are buying. The lender said the loans offered a “socially responsible and prudent” solution to people in negative equity.
The vast majority of Britain’s new home buyers would recommend their home builder to a friend, according to the Home Builders Federation’s (HBF’s) fourth annual Customer Satisfaction Survey.
A new briefing note has just been published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) for local authorities and housing associations to highlight the problems they can cause for lenders by imposing planning restrictions under section
106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Estimates suggest that a higher proportion of young first-time buyers than ever before are getting help from parents to enter the market. But, the latest data shows signs that lending criteria stopped tightening in May. Since reaching a record 25 per cent in February, the average first-time buyer deposit has remained unchanged. And the typical first-time buyer income multiple has held at 2.97 from April.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have announced that due to the large cut in interest rates they predict there will be fewer households falling behind with their mortgage payments this year, as well as a reduction in the number of homes taken into possession.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) is concerned that some recent coverage of fixed-rate mortgage pricing fails to reflect the complex array of influences on lenders’ pricing strategies at present.
The government has launched a Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme (HMS). This scheme enables eligible borrowers to defer a proportion of their interest payments for up to two years, with the government underwriting a proportion of the lender’s ultimate risk of loss.