020 7016 0790

Get expert mortgage advice with Trinity Financial

Situated in Mayfair in Central London, Trinity provide financial advice tailored to your needs. We will search the whole of the mortgage market to find the best deal to suit your circumstances.

You will benefit from our expert knowledge and professional service whether you are a first-time buyer, a professional buy-to-let investor looking to build a property portfolio, or seeking funds for a multi-million pound property. You can be assured that with our wealth of experience your mortgage application will be in safe hands.

Click here to view our latest mortgage best buys and call us on 020 7016 0790

http://www.trinityfinancialgroup.co.uk/best-buys

May 30, 2012

Rents rose further in the three months to April, as fresh tenant demand continued to exceed new instructions, says the latest RICS Residential Lettings Survey (February – April 2012).

13 percent more chartered surveyors reported rents rose rather than fell in the three months to April. This growth was largely driven by increasing demand as a net balance of 15 percent more respondents reported rises in prospective tenants, with houses in greater demand than flats.

The supply of property to the market continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace, with seven percent more surveyors reporting increases rather than decreases in landlords looking to let their properties.

Rental values are steadily increasing and landlords’ gross yields also continued to grow during the early part of the year, although the pace of growth has begun to slow. This was the case in every part of the UK with the exception of London where tenant demand also saw a slight downturn.

Looking ahead, surveyors remain positive that the market will remain buoyant over the next three months, with 13 per cent more predicting rents will rise rather than fall.

Across the UK, all areas expect rents to continue to increase with the exception of Scotland where expectations entered negative territory for the first time since October 2009.

Peter Bolton King, RICS Global Residential Director, commented: “The rental market is still fairly buoyant and this looks likely to continue, given the challenges facing the sales market.

“This points to tenant demand continuing to outpace supply. As a result, rents will remain on an upward trajectory, adding to the pressure on many households whose incomes are already being squeezed.”

May 25, 2012

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) says that a number of lenders have asked for a ban on interest-only lending as part of the Mortgage Market Review, according to a story in Mortgage Strategy magazine.

Speaking at the Mortgage Business Expo in Manchester, FSA manager of mortgage policy Lynda Blackwell, is quoted as saying: “Some people want us to ban interest-only and that includes lenders – some lenders have asked us to ban interest-only. We have listened to all the different views and what we accept is that interest-only is right for certain borrowers.”

There a number of lenders happy to offer interest-only mortgages and they are available to borrowers with a minimum deposit of 25%.

May 25, 2012

Nationwide increased its gross lending by 44% in the twelve months to April 4 2012, to reach £18.4bn, up from £12.8bn in 2011.

The lender has also announced plans to enter the small business lending market.

The building society has helped over 24,000 first-time buyers get on the property ladder during the year and this is a 9% increase on last year.

The lender also estimates this it has cost £750m to maintain their old standard variable rate capped at 2% above the Bank of England’s 0.5% base rate.

Nationwide’s underlying profits rose by 10% to £304m in the year, but the profits were reduced by £103m due to charges from complaints relating to the mis-selling of PPI.

May 25, 2012

Debt charity, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, has warned that household finances are extremely difficult for many borrowers.

According to their latest report, lenders would only have to raise mortgage repayments by £20 a month for 100,000 borrowers to find payments unaffordable.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service said many are already struggling with overdue bills and cards while just about coping with house repayments.

Una Farrell of the CCCS is quoted as saying: “For hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the country the margin between being able to pay their mortgage and falling into arrears is now as little as £20.

“Just a tiny increase in their monthly repayment costs could send many over the edge, and into serious debt problems.  Many are just clinging on at the moment. If the eurozone situation worsens it will have a direct impact on them.

“A £20 rise would mean they could no longer keep up their ­repayments and fall into arrears. Ultimately, it is these people who could end up losing their home.”

May 25, 2012

Adam Posen is leaving the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to become the next president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Mr Posen will leave the MPC and complete his three-year term as an external member of the committee on August 31.

He is quoted as saying: “I am proud of the work we have done trying to understand and stabilise UK economic performance in the aftermath of the global crisis.”

May 25, 2012

There are now 4.6 million British expats living and working abroad, helping to shape the communities they live in, according the fifth annual NatWest International Personal Banking (NatWest IPB) Quality of Life Index.

Australia (1.4 million), Spain (940,000) and the USA (794,000) are the three most popular destinations for British expats.

The report says 41 countries each have a British expat population of at least 10,000 and 112 countries have at least 1,000.

Dave Isley, Head of NatWest International Personal Banking, comments: ”Either by design or accident, British expats are our ambassadors abroad and are playing a pivotal role in promoting values and best practices. Their contribution to local economies and communities – either financially or socially – cannot be underestimated.”

There are now 74,264 teachers from the UK working in British international schools. That number is equal to almost 14% of teachers in UK state schools. It is predicted that by 2013 the number will have risen by a further 54% to nearly 115,000. In the last year alone, over 500 new English-speaking international schools were opened across the world, with most development happening in Dubai and elsewhere in the United Arab Emirates, in Qatar, Spain and in China, employing a total of 192,000 teachers.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “We have seen an increase in the amount of ex-pats looking to buy property in the UK and we have access to a number of lenders that specialise in lending to those living and working abroad.”

May 25, 2012

HSBC Holdings plc concluded the sale of 195 of its US branches, mostly located in New York, to First Niagara Bank, N.A., a wing of First Niagara Financial Group Inc.

They were sold for approximately $1 billion in cash and the sale was a part of HSBC’s strategic revamp.

Last year, HSBC had outlined a strategy to restructure its business and curtail costs up to $3.5 billion by 2013.

May 25, 2012

Trinity Financial has secured access to a new range of leading buy-to-let mortgages being offered by the Skipton and the Hinckley & Rugby Building Societies.

The Hinckley’s rate is one of the lowest in the market at 3.25% and it does not have any early repayment charges. The rate offers a 2.39% discount from their standard variable rate for two-years and has arrangement fees totalling £2,000. Investors will need to put down a 40% deposit.

Skipton’s new two-year fix is very competitively priced at 3.89% and it has a £2,495 arrangement fee. Investors will need a 40% deposit. Their new two-year tracker is 4.19% and it has a £995 arrangement fee. The lender requires a 30% deposit.

May 18, 2012

House prices have more than doubled in half of the seaside towns surveyed in England and Wales since 2002, according to the Halifax’s latest report.

Over the past decade, the average house price in seaside towns rose by 97%, slightly ahead of the 95% increase in the whole of England and Wales.

The annual Halifax Seaside Town Review tracks house price movements in 136 seaside towns in England and Wales. The review is based on house price data from the Land Registry and covers the period of February 2002 to February 2012.

Seaham, in County Durham, has recorded the biggest rise over the past decade with the average house price increasing by almost 183% from £38,443 in 2002 to £108,742 in 2012. Wadebridge and Padstow – both in Cornwall – have seen the next largest rises with increases of 173% and 171% respectively. The average price in Wadebridge is now at £348,986, and £382,806 in Padstow.

There is a marked North-South divide in house prices in seaside towns, despite big increases in house prices in many seaside towns in the north over the past ten years. All ten of the most expensive seaside towns are on the south coast with eight in the South West.

Salcombe in Devon (£528,920) and Sandbanks in Dorset (£525,927) have the highest average prices with both also featuring amongst the most expensive areas in the country.

May 18, 2012

HSBC will amend its conveyancing approach to enable all solicitors accredited with the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) home-buying quality mark to act for HSBC as well as its mortgage customers.

Previously only firms on HSBC’s managed panel of conveyancers would be able to act for both the borrower and the lender, with all other firms able to act for the borrower only. The new arrangement will be introduced in August 2012.

All CQS firms will be able to act for HSBC. From the outset, CQS-accredited sole practitioners will be able to handle all cases with mortgage values up to £150,000. The Law Society and HSBC will continue to work together to raise this value for CQS sole practitioners.

Law Society Chief Executive Desmond Hudson said: “The bank has been constructive in working with the Law Society, in designing this solution. As well as giving its customers a much wider choice of solicitor that can also act for HSBC, it has aligned itself further with the CQS and the high standards the scheme represents.”

May 18, 2012

Low to middle income households were reliant on borrowing to fund much of their spending for more than a decade before the financial crisis, according to a new report for the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation.

The report shows the full extent of the increase in borrowing and deterioration in household savings rates in the run up to the 2008/09 crisis, with the poorest 10% outspending their income by 40% by 2007.

The report, authored by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, found that over the 10 years 1997-2007, spending grew faster than incomes across all households, but for the poorest groups this was much more pronounced.  For the bottom 10%, incomes grew by 17% while spending grew by more than twice as much (43%).

Even middle income households found themselves falling behind, with incomes growing by 33% and spending growing by 46%, resulting in a negative savings ratio for a full ten years before the crash.

May 18, 2012

One in 10 new homes in the UK are self-built and the market generates £3 billion annually for the UK economy, according to a report by the Building Societies Association (BSA).

The BSA has published a toolkit to provide information to encourage lenders not yet in the self-build market to offer this type of finance.

An estimated 13,800 self-build homes we completed in 2010/11 and 100,000 people subscribed to one of the main plot-finding websites.

The UK Government says that it is committed to its housing strategy for England to work with industry with the aim of doubling this sector over the next ten years. They say that this would potentially add 100,000 homes to help fill the housing gap and support up to 50,000 jobs directly and indirectly per year – taking self-build mainstream.

Mutual lenders are leading the way in providing mortgages for those who want to build their own homes, with 20 plus building societies already providing this kind of mortgage finance.

Housing Minister, Grant Shapps MP, said: ”Self builders built more homes last year than many of the major developers in this country.  But I want to see more of this, see the industry fulfil its potential and double in size to ensure anyone wanting to build their own home has access to the help and information they need.”

May 18, 2012

If you are in a hurry to get a mortgage for a new house purchase – then one of our expert consultants can help. We consistently secure mortgage offers in ten working days and we have a wealth of experience when working to tight deadlines.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “We have all sorts of clients and many of them receive large bonuses or they are self-employed. We have access to lenders that will consider lending a large percentage of any bonus and also look at the self-employed more favourably. 

“We recently secured a client a million pound mortgage using accounts that were 18 months old.”

May 25, 2012

Trinity Financial has secured access to a leading building insurance and rent guarantee protection policy. It is designed to protect landlords in the event of a tenant not paying the rent or the property being damaged.

Provided by Halifax, the policy covers a number of eventualities, including: squatter eviction, rent guarantee and legal expenses. Also, most properties are covered for rebuild costs of up to £800,000 as standard.

If a tenant stops paying the rent, then the insurer will pay to a maximum of £2,000 per month for 12 months.

The buildings and rent protection policy has been particularly popular with our clients and we have successfully reduced a number of monthly premiums. One client recently told us that his insurance premium was approximately half the price of his existing policy and that this enabled us to add rental protection to his policy at no extra cost.

Let us know if you would like a quote for landlords insurance or buildings insurance.

May 11, 2012

A number of banks and building societies have made changes to their mortgage rates this week and they include Halifax, Scottish Widows and Nottingham Building Society.

Halifax and Scottish Widows increased their large mortgage loans by 0.2% and Coventry Building Society lowered one of their five-year fixes by 0.74%.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says:  “Most of the lenders that changed their rates increased them, but there were a few exceptions.

“The Nationwide Building Society offers some of the most competitive mortgages and they have halved some of their arrangement fees. Their two-year tracker is 3.29% and their three-year fix is 3.69%. Both mortgages are available to borrowers with a 30% deposit and they have £999 arrangement fees.

“Coventry Building Society has a particularly good five-year fix at 3.89% for those with a 35% deposit. The arrangement fee is £999 and there is a free property valuation.

“All of these mortgages have a maximum loan size of £1 million.”

March 11, 2012

David Webster, Chief Executive of the Hanley Economic Building Society, has been elected as Chairman of the Building Societies Association (BSA) for 2012/13. He replaces Peter Griffiths, Chief Executive, of the Principality Building Society with immediate effect.  Mr Griffiths has held the post for the past year.

Commenting on his election as BSA Chairman, David Webster said: “The continued pressure on the UK economy and the fall-out from the financial crisis are still clearly having an impact on consumers, the financial services industry and the country as a whole.  At this time and with the UK public feeling the pinch, the role and opportunity for a trusted, customer-focused mutual sector in financial services has never been greater.”

March 11, 2012

The Government’s deficit plan is helping to keep interest rates at a record low and a secure roof over the heads of millions of hard-working homeowners, according to Housing Minister Grant Shapps.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders latest figures show that repossessions have remained unchanged from the same quarter last year.

There were 9,600 repossessions during the first three months of 2012 - unchanged from the same quarter of 2011.

Minister Shapps said that these figures underlined how Government action was helping to head off the threat of far higher rates of home repossessions predicted by a leading academic three years ago.

In his report Professor John Muellbauer of Nuffield College, Oxford, warned that, at the extreme, repossessions could hit levels last seen in the 1990s - and even in more likely scenarios could hit as many as 60,000 a year.

Mr Shapps says: “No family that has worked hard to buy their own home should be left feeling like repossession is the only option - not when there is help and support on offer to ensure that it is only ever the last resort.

“Thanks to our work to tackle the deficit, we’ve managed to keep interest rates at record lows, keeping pressure off hardworking homeowners, and meaning we’re nowhere near the levels predicted only three years ago.

“Even though figures today show that repossession levels are stable, now is not the time to rest on our laurels. Just as the Government is tackling the problem head on I would urge struggling homeowners to do the same - I would urge them to take action and take charge, get advice early and use the support on offer.”

Those having problems repaying their mortgage should visit the Directgov website: www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp

March 11, 2012

New buy-to-let lending in the first quarter of this year totalled £3.7 billion (32,300 loans), according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This was 5% down on the fourth quarter of 2011 and 32% higher than in the first quarter of 2011, but still only around a third of its 2007 levels.

The average maximum loan-to-value available from lenders on buy-to-let mortgages remained at 75% in the first quarter of the year, with the average minimum rental cover 125% – up from 123% in the previous quarter, but otherwise the same as for nearly three years.

The repossession rate was 0.12% – virtually the same as for the last five quarters – compared with 0.08% in the owner-occupied sector.

May 11, 2012

Trinity Financial has secured access to a leading building insurance and rent guarantee protection policy. It is designed to protect landlords in the event of a tenant not paying the rent or the property being damaged.

Provided by Halifax, the policy covers a number of eventualities, including: squatter eviction, rent guarantee and legal expenses. Also, most properties are covered for rebuild costs of up to £800,000 as standard.

If a tenant stops paying the rent, then the insurer will pay to a maximum of £2,000 per month for 12 months.

The buildings and rent protection policy has been particularly popular with our clients and we have successfully reduced a number of monthly premiums. One client recently told us that his insurance premium was approximately half the price of his existing policy and that this enabled us to add rental protection to his policy at no extra cost.

Let us know if you would like a quote for landlords insurance or buildings insurance.

May 11, 2012

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has kept base on hold at 0.5% and maintained quantitative easing at £325bn.

Barry Naisbitt, chief economist at Santander UK,  commented on the latest decision: “Given the reported fall in economic activity in the first quarter of this year and that the MPC increased quantitative easing in February, there was some speculation about whether the MPC would further increase its asset purchases.

“With no policy change this month, the real focus will probably come with the Bank of England’s Inflation Report which is published later this month.  With inflation having edged up to 3.5% in March, it will be interesting to see if the Bank retains its view that inflation will fall to its 2% target by the end of this year.”

May 11, 2012

Santander and Abbey for Intermediaries (the broker lending arm of Santander) have made changes to their new build lending criteria by making adjustments to their loan to value limits.

The Spanish bank previously allowed first-time buyers to put down a smaller deposit if they were buying a new build property.

All borrowers now require at least a 25% deposit if they are buying a flat. This has changed from a 30% deposit for second time buyers and those looking to remortgage and 20% for first-time buyers.

You will now need a 15% deposit if you want to buy a new build house through the bank. Previously, Santander asked first-time buyers for a minimum deposit of 10% deposit and a 20% deposit from all other borrowers.

May 11, 2012

More than one million homeowners had their mortgage repayments increased this week as some of the biggest lenders raised their standard variable rates (SVR’s).

Five banks hiked their SVR’s – including: Halifax, Bank of Ireland, Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest.

Approximately 850,000 Halifax customers will be affected by the 0.49% SVR increase.

Both Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks raised their SVR by 0.36% to 4.95%, affecting 30,000 borrowers.  Bank of Ireland will increase their rate to 4.49% on 1 June affecting 100,000 borrowers.

The rate increases will add approximately £300 million a year to mortgage bills according to Which? the consumer group.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, told The Times: “There is a real danger other lenders will increase rates sooner rather than later as it becomes more expensive for banks and building societies to raise wholesale finance.”

Please find a list of a few of the main lenders SVR’s:

May 4, 2012

The Co-operative Bank has announced that they will stop offering interest-only mortgages due to a lack of demand.  All new mortgages will now be available only on a full capital-repayment basis.

Banks and building societies continue to reduce the amount of interest-only rates they offer.  The on-going tightening of mortgage qualification criteria has almost certainly helped to limit demand from borrowers.

Platform Home Loans, the broker lending arm of The Co-operative Bank, sent a communication to Trinity Financial explaining: “We are receiving low volumes of mainstream and almost prime interest only applications, with the majority of our lending focused on buy-to-let.  Looking forward we also believe that demand for interest-only loans will continue to fall.

“With this in mind, the cost of changes that we would want to make in order to comply with future regulations and meet our own high standards as a responsible lender cannot be justified.  Therefore we have taken the decision to withdraw interest-only lending for new residential lending and additional borrowing on residential interest-only loans.”

Buy-to-let mortgages and existing interest-only customers will not be affected by the new criteria.

May 4, 2012

The Mortgage Works (TMW), the buy-to-let specialist lending arm of Nationwide Building Society, has made changes to their buy-to-let mortgages and added some new rates to their range.

The new deals are available for house purchase and remortgage and some existing rates have been lowered by up to 0.25%.

Their two-year fixes start at 3.39% for those with a 40% deposit and the arrangement fee is 3.5% of the loan amount.

With a 25% deposit you may be able to access their two-year fix at 4.99% and it has a 1.5% fee.  For those with 20% deposit the rate is 4.99% and the arrangement fee is 3.5%.

The Nottingham Building Society offers one of the most competitive two-year trackers at 3.39% for those with a 40% deposit. Or, they offer a 3.89% tracker if you have a 25% deposit. Both mortgages have a £1,999 arrangement fee.

May 4, 2012

The UK economy will see growth resume in the second half of 2012, with faster GDP growth during 2013, according to the latest quarterly Confederation of British Industry (CBI) economic forecast.

The CBI expects GDP growth in 2012 will be 0.6%, slightly down from its forecast in February of 0.9%. They say that this is a direct consequence of the preliminary Office of National Statistics figures for quarter one. Despite this, they think growth prospects remain broadly unchanged for the latter half of the year and, in 2013, the CBI forecasts GDP growth to be 2.0%.

Quarter-on-quarter growth is expected to be flat in the second quarter of 2012 (0%), affected by the impact of the additional bank holiday for the Diamond Jubilee. However, there will be an improvement in the second half of the year (0.7%, 0.5%), reflecting an improving global economy and an expected easing in inflationary pressures, plus a slight boost from the Olympics and a bounce back from the second quarter.

John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said: “Despite the disappointing GDP estimate for the first quarter from the Office of National Statistics, we still think the UK economy will grow in 2012, with faster growth next year. Optimism among businesses has been increasing since the turn of the year, with manufacturing demand holding up. And that is beginning to translate into more jobs and investment.

“That said, the global economy continues to pose a number of significant challenges. Concerns over Eurozone stability are on the rise again, oil prices remain high and confidence among businesses and households are still fragile.”

Source: CBI press release.

May 4, 2012

Lloyds Banking Group has set aside an extra £375m to pay for the latest compensation claims being submitted to them for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI).

In its Q1 statement to 31 March, the bank announced a PPI claims provision of some £3.2bn last year and reported falling profits for the first three months of the year.

Lloyds also reported £5.7bn of new mortgage lending in Q1, including over £1.3bn of lending to 11,500 first-time buyers.

May 4, 2012

According to the Nationwide Building Society April House Price Index, the price of a typical UK house fell by 0.2% in April.

The price of a typical home is now £164,134 and house prices remain 0.9% lower than a year ago.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “The price of a typical UK home fell by 0.2% in April, following a 1.0% decline in March.  This is the fourth time in five months that prices have declined. House prices were 0.9% lower than April 2011.

“Much of the recent softness in measures of housing market activity and house prices is likely to relate to the expiry of the stamp duty holiday in late March. This provided a temporary boost to house prices in early 2012 as buyers brought forward purchases that would otherwise have taken place later in the year.”

May 4, 2012

Most mortgage lenders require two or three years accounts when you apply for a mortgage, although Trinity Financial has access to a mortgage lenders that requires one year’s accounts.

With so many new start-up businesses in the UK some banks have realised that not everyone will be able to produce three years accounts. Borrowers will need a very good credit score to qualify with lender, although they are currently processing a large amount of applications from self-employed borrowers.

Trinity has also helped many clients on contracts and maternity leave.  If you would help securing a mortgage, call us on 020 7016 0790.

November 2, 2012

Trinity Financial has access to a number of lenders that offer buy-to-let mortgages to investors with difficulties proving their income.  Most lenders ask applicants to prove a minimum deposit of at least £25,000.

If you get your income from a number of sources, such as a property you let out, or you have savings which could cover a rental void period, call Trinity Financial on 020 7016 0790.

May 1, 2012