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April 18, 2010
Mortgages available for borrowers with credit blips
Over the last few weeks some mortgage lenders have said that they will look at lending to borrowers with blemishes on their credit history. One missed payment on a mortgage or store card is often enough for an application to be declined, even if there is a genuine reason for the payment being missed.
As a result of the tight lending criteria some good quality, cash rich clients are being refused home loans.
Trinity Financial have been speaking to many of the smaller building societies which understand that the big banks are being unreasonable in many cases. Often borrowers have genuine reasons for missing a payment, such as a divorce or change of current account, a disputed amount owed, or poor customer service that has resulted in a black mark on their credit rating.
Some smaller lenders will now look at lending to borrowers with minor problems as a way of compensating for their slightly higher rates. They are not looking to take on borrowers with clear financial problems, but those with blips on their credit file. Two-year fixed rates are available at 4.99% with a maximum loan of £1.5 million.
April 16, 2010
MPC committee unanimous
MPC committee unanimous
The minutes for the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee have been released and they show that all 9 members voted for the base rate to stay the same. Some members of the committee were concerned about a change in the balance of risk toward inflation, which may suggest a possible base rate rise earlier than expected.
April 22, 2010
Building societies lower mortgage rates
A number of building societies have lowered their mortgage rates this week as they try to lend more money. The Nottingham have launched a range of competitive fixed and tracker rates aimed at borrowers with a 15% or 20% deposit, The Principality and Mansfield Building Societies have also lowered their rates.
The Nottingham is one of the few mortgage lenders that still offer interest-only mortgages up to 80% loan-to-value. This makes their mortgages even more attractive. Trinity Financial can now access a two-year fixed rate at 4.49%, or a two-year tracker at 3.49%, for those with a 20% deposit. The Nottingham also offers a two-year tracker at 3.99% for those with a 15% deposit to put down. All of these mortgages have a free property valuation and an arrangement fee of £795.
Over the last week there have been more discounted variable rates launched. Generally speaking, it is not advisable to take a rate that is linked to a lender’s standard variable rate. Some of these rates do sound attractive initially, but they can soon change. Lender’s can increase discounted rates at their discretion. For those that do want a discounted rate, The Mansfield now offer a two-year discount at 3.39% and it is available to those with a 20% deposit. It has an £898 arrangement fee.
Woolwich and Abbey still have the lowest rates for borrowers with a 30% deposit. Abbey’s two-year trackers start at 2.49% and their lowest fix is 3.29%. Woolwich offer a base rate offset tracker that tracks the Bank of England base rate for the term of the mortgage. This is as low as 2.49%. Their cheapest two-year fix is 2.98%. Both mortgages are available up to £1 million.
April 22, 2010
UK borrowing hits record £163.4 billion
According to official figures shown on the BBC website, government borrowing has hit a record high of £163.4 billion. The borrowing for the 2009-10 financial year is lower than the £166.5 billion predicted by the Chancellor Alistair Darling in April’s budget.
This is the biggest annual borrowing figure for a UK government in peacetime.
April 22, 2010
Housing stock on the up, says NAEA
The number of properties for sale has hit its highest level for the last six months, according to figures from the National Association of Estate Agents.
The average number of properties for sale per estate agency branch has increased from 56 in February, to 60 in March. However, the number of people looking to buy a property has also increased from 258 in February, to 274 in March, per branch. This means there is approximately 4.5 house hunters for every home on the market.
April 16, 2010
Low mortgage rates available
Mortgage rates have continued to edge down this week with many of the building societies reducing their rates. Alliance and Leicester was the biggest intermediary lender to make reductions.
Woolwich have a range of extremely competitive mortgages. Their lowest two-year fix is 3.39% and it is available for loans up to £1 million. Their offset term tracker mortgage is as low as 2.49%. Both mortgages have £1499 arrangement fees and are available to those with a 30% deposit.
Three-year fixed rates are available below 4% and five-year fixes are around 5%.
April 16, 2010
UK house prices up in March, says Halifax
UK house prices have risen in March by 1.1% after falling in February, according to the Halifax.
Taking into account this rise, the average home in the UK now costs £168,521, nearly £11,000 higher than a year ago. This is a 9.1% increase on the low point reached last April.
Halifax’s figures do differ from those recently published by the Nationwide. This building society said that house prices increased by 0.7% in March and that prices were 9% higher than a year ago.
A report in today’s The Times suggests that house prices in Fulham are up 45% over a year, performing more strongly than neighbouring Chelsea. They report that this is due to bankers’ putting their bonuses into family houses in Fulham and the lack of supply.
It will be interesting to see what effects the stamp duty changes have on the property market. First-time buyers currently do not have to pay stamp duty for properties up to £250,000 until March 25, 2012, and homes over £1 million will have the stamp duty tax increased from 4% to 5% from April 6, 2011.
April 9, 2010
Fixed rates now available below 3%
A host of lenders have made changes to their mortgage rates this week and fixed rates are now available below 3%.
Over the last few weeks Trinity Financial have watched fixes edge down further and the gap between the cheapest fixed and tracker rates is getting smaller. Woolwich have introduced a fantastically low two-year fixed rate at 2.98%. It does have an arrangement fee of £1999, but it is available to borrowers with a 30% deposit. Alliance & Leicester also made reductions to their fixed rates and they now offer a two-year mortgage at 2.89%, available to those with a 30% deposit. For the smaller loans this fee could make sense.
Abbey reduced their two-year fixes today and they now offer a two-year mortgage at 3.29% with a £995 arrangement fee. Nationwide made their first rate cuts for what seems like a very long time and, by looking at their rates, they are still very much expecting to attract those purchasing a property
Woolwich have also made reductions to their tracker rates and these are now available at 2.49%. The arrangement fee is £1499 and there is a minimum loan size of £200,000. Some of their popular Offset mortgages have also been reduced and are available from 2.89%. Both mortgages are available to those with a 30% deposit.
Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial Group, says: “This has been a good week for bringing more competition into the market. Other lenders will see Abbey’s and Woolwich’s reductions and look at ways of lowering their rates, too.
“While it is good that mortgages are getting cheaper, this does not help the majority of first-time buyers. The most affordable mortgages are still available only to those with the biggest deposits. The typical mortgage that a first-time buyer would look at is still around 4% higher than the market leaders.”
Base rate stays at 0.5%
The Bank of England base rate has remained at its record low of 0.5% for the 13th consecutive month. The bank also decided that they will not be pumping any more money in to their quantitive easing policy.
Next months base rate decision clashes with the General Election, so the Monetary Policy Committee will meet on Monday 10th May to decide if they will keep base rate on hold.
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