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The Bank of England have kept the base rate at its record low of 0.5% for the15th consecutive month. This decision was widely expected.

The longer base rate stays at this record low, the more used to paying minimal mortgage payments many home owners are becoming. This week Grant Shapps gave his first key note speach as Housing Minister at an event hosted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, he warned about the risk of interest rate rises if we do not cut the UK’s national debt.

During the speech he is quoted as saying: “The coalition government is prepared to take the tough decisions needed. The Prime Minister has said that his number one priority is to deal with the country’s massive deficit.

“As he put it, if we don’t, we run the risk of much higher interest rates. But it’s not just they will be higher: It’s that they’ll climb faster – and further – and sooner and stay much higher for longer – if we do not act immediately.”

Trinity Financial Group will be taking part in a live, on-line mortgage and house prices question and answer session on Times Online. It will be on Wednesday, June 16 at 1pm. Mark Dixon from Savills Residential Research and Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors will also be answering any questions on-line readers may have.

June 11, 2010

Platform Home Loans are the latest mortgage lender to change the way they offer some of their mortgages. They have a range of deals that are cheaper for couples than they are for single applicants.

Platform says that their research has found that joint mortgages perform better than single applicants. The two-year fixed rate being offered is 3.19% for joint borrowers with a 30% deposit. For those with a 25% deposit there is a two-year fixed rate at 3.49% – if you have a 20% deposit the two-year fix is 4.49%. These mortgages have an arrangement fee of £1495.

Lee Gladwell, a director at Platform, told The Telegraph: “This product does not penalize sole borrowers. Our analysis shows that joint applicant appear to represent a lower risk and perform better than some market segments for single applicants. It means that we have been able to offer this new product at reduced rates by making it available only to joint borrowers.”

June 11, 2010

Trinity Financial Group is one of the very few London brokers to have secured access to The Chelsea’s new market leading five-year fixed rate at 3.99%. This highly competitive mortgage is available to borrowers with a 25% deposit and it has an arrangement fee of £995. It also has free standard legal fees and £250 cash back for those looking to remortgage.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial Group, says: “This rate offers real value for money. For those that do not want to worry about moving their mortgage for the next five years, safe in the knowledge that have an excellent rate, this is a really good option.

“Northern Rock’s mortgages are also very competitive. Their two-year tracker rates start at 2.44% and two-year fixes at 3.19%. Both mortgages require a 30% deposit and have an arrangement fee of £995. The maximum loan size is £1 million. For those that feel base rate will be low for quite some time, Trinity Financial can access their clients a lifetime tracker rate at 2.89%. This has an arrangement fee of £495 and borrowers will require a 30% deposit.”

June 15, 2010

Trinity Financial Group celebrated its first birthday this week and is now looking forward to a prosperous second year. Many people said that is was not advisable to set up a new mortgage brokerage during a particularly bad recession. However, Trinity Financial saw this as good a time as any. A number of the industry’s biggest players have gone out of business over the last two years and there is now more room in the market.

Trinity Financial was founded by four mortgage brokers in June 2009 and, over the last year, the company has grown considerably in stature. This has been helped by the fact that there are now more mortgages available than there were a year ago and the increased activity from our clients.  Mortgages are now available whether you want a large loan, a buy to let property or for those with a 10% deposit.

Jed Newton, a director at Trinity Financial Group, says: “There is a lot more to be positive about in the market now. More mortgage lenders have returned and buy to let lending is much better than this time last year. I expect our second year to be a good one for all of Trinity’s customers.”

June 4, 2010

The more traditional approach of buying a home with a partner has become increasingly outdated as more single people get into property. Research by Santander has found that, over the last five years, 37% of first-time buyers were single people, while just 29% bought with their spouse.

This is the first time that single buyers have outnumbered married buyers in the UK. During the 1970s 85% of first-time buyers were married couples, with only 10% of buyers purchasing alone.  This pattern started to change in the 1990s when 46% of first-time buyers were married, with 32% single and 19% unmarried couples bought properties.

According the Office for National Statistics the average age of women marrying for the first time is 29 years, up from 24 during the 1980s.

June 4, 2010

Cheltenham & Gloucester, part of the Lloyds Banking Group, have finally ditched their fantastically low standard variable rate of 2.5% as they look to raise more cash. Existing customers will not be affected. Any mortgage taken out after June 1 will go on to a new higher SVR, currently 3.99%.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial Groups, says: “It is no real surprise that the bank have taken this action as they have been particularly keen to get their existing customers off this low rate for some time. The last thing they want is for their new customers to be able to access to it.

“The move by C&G mirrors previous action taken by the Nationwide Building Society when they raised their SVR for new customers. There are still signs that building societies are keen to raise more cash in by increasing their SVR’s. This week the Leeds Building Society have increased their SVR by 0.2% to 5.69% and the Buckingham Building Society has increased their’s by 0.49%, to 5.24%.”

June 4, 2010

The average amount owed by the UK’s 11.1 million home loan borrowers is £108,819, according to the money education charity Credit Action.  With the average property worth around £170,000, the figure appears to be pretty low.

However, Credit Action warns that total personal debt levels in the UK are still worryingly high and totaled £1.46 trillion at the end of April, an annual growth of 0.8%. According to the charity, the average household debt is £57,915 – including mortgages and £8761 excluding mortgages. Britain’s interest repayments on personal debt were £67.9 billion in the last 12 months, with the average interest paid by each household on their total debt being around £2695 each year.

Credit Action also states that 107 properties were repossessed each day during the first quarter of 2010.

June 4, 2010