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Nationwide for Intermediaries has recently lowered its mortgage rates and is now offering two-, three-, and five-year fixes at rates below 4%.

Nationwide is the UK's largest building society, and it has launched two and five-year fixes at 3.84%, with the three-year fix still below 3.95%. 

These mortgages are available to borrowers with a 40% deposit who are buying a property and need to raise between £300,000 and £5 million. There is a £1,499 arrangement fee, and early repayment charges apply. The lender also has a sub-4% five-year fixed remortgage rates.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "If you are on the hunt for a mortgage there are some great options to choose from at the moment. It was not long ago that it looked like rates were going up, but now we have a range of lenders offering sub-4% fixes.

"While the lowest rates are available to borrowers with a 35% or 40% deposit, the fixes with a 30% or 25% deposit are not much more expensive. Lenders are working hard to attract borrowers, especially now that the stamp duty rate has been increased.  

Nationwide representative example: A capital and interest mortgage of £300,000 payable over 30 years, initially on a fixed rate basis at 3.84% for 24 months and then the standard variable rate currently at 7.24% for the remaining 28 years. The 3.84% rate would require 24 monthly repayments of £1,404.71 followed by 336 payments of £2,009.45. The total amount repayable would be £710,402.24 made up of the loan amount, plus interest (£408,887.70) and £1,499 (product fee), £65 (final repayment charge), £15 (completion fee). The overall cost for comparison is 6.9% APRC representative.

Should you take a two, three or five-year fix mortgage? 

The price difference between the two-, three-, and five-year fixes is currently minimal, with some lenders offering their lowest rates to borrowers opting for two-year fixes over five-year fixes. Longer-term fixes are typically less expensive than two-year rates.

With the money markets predicting at least three Bank of England base rate reductions this year, there is a fair chance that mortgage rates could come down, and cheaper fixed-rate options may become available. However, things change very quickly in the mortgage industry so if you are planning to stay in your property for the foreseeable future then it may well be worth taking a five-year fix, if you think the Bank of England will need to act to sure up the economy and lower rates to stimulate the property market, then a two-year fix may be best for you.  

Call Trinity Financial on 0808 1642174 to secure a mortgage, book a consultation, or complete our mortgage questionnaire. 

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

Barclays has enhanced its mortgage affordability calculations in a move that could allow many homebuyers and remortgage customers to borrow more money.
 
In a message to Trinity Financial explaining the changes, Barclays said: "We know that affordability remains one of the biggest challenges facing your clients. That's why from today, we've enhanced our mortgage affordability calculations. We have cut our stress rates for residential purchase and remortgage applications."
  
A family could now potentially borrow up to £30,750 more (subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history).
 
Whether you are stepping onto the housing ladder, moving home or remortgaging, this update could make a meaningful difference in what's possible in today's market.

Barclays has also increased the maximum loan amounts for lower deposit property purchases across all of its mortgages, to £640,000 for houses and £310,000 for flats, enabling more buyers to access homes in higher price brackets with a 10% deposit.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says, " Many of the big lenders have concentrated their efforts on issuing more generous loan sizes, and lots of borrowers are starting to notice the difference.

"With so many lenders offering mortgages of around £30,000 more the income stretch mortgages are not being used as much and borrowers are finding it easier to get the loan size they need. They are also getting enough money through the biggest lenders, which is good news as they generally offer the most competitive prices."

Call Trinity Financial on 0808 1642174 to secure a mortgage or book a consultation

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage 

Banks and building societies are constantly launching new schemes to help more first-time buyers get on the property ladder. 

First-time buyer schemes are widely available across large and small mortgage lenders. Some are good for borrowers with a bigger deposit or those with access to the bank of mum and dad, while there are  low deposit options for borrowers needing an income stretch. There are even low-deposit mortgages for those with credit blips. 

There are almost too many first-time buyer schemes to list, but here is our pick of the latest leading top eight:

1) Nationwide's Helping Hand income stretch mortgage

The most popular first-time buyer scheme is arguably Nationwide's Helping Hand income stretch mortgage, which helps borrowers access up to six times their salary to secure a mortgage.

Applicants will need to take a five—or ten-year fix, but the Helping Hand scheme has helped thousands of first-time buyers secure sufficiently large mortgages to get on the property ladder. 

• All applicants must be first-time buyers.
• 5 and 10-year fixed rates are available for borrowers, provided they have a 5% deposit.
• Minimum qualifying income of £35,000 for sole applicants or £55,000 for joint applicants. You can include all income sources (except self-employed income).
• Up to six times your salary mortgage, which is more generous than most other lenders.

2) Accord Mortgages £5k deposit

The Accord Mortgage £5k deposit scheme is a 1% deposit mortgage available to first-time buyers who provide a £5,000 deposit. The minimum loan size is £95,001, and the maximum is £495,000.

• At least one applicant must be a first-time buyer (defined as never having owned a property in the past) and have no background properties on the application.
• The maximum age allowable at the end of the term is 70.
• Both applicants must have an indefinite right to reside in the UK.

3) Skipton's 100% Track Record Mortgage

Skipton for Intermediaries is offering a 100% Track Record Mortgage, providing a no-deposit mortgage for current renters who haven't owned a property in the last 3 years and can demonstrate a track record of affordability of all monthly rent for a minimum of 12 months in the last 18-month period.

• After one year of helping renters into their homes, Skipton has made various improvements to the way we calculate affordability, which should help more customers step up on the property ladder. This means that in some circumstances, we will lend loans with monthly payments up to 120% of the rent the customer is currently paying.
• The maximum term is 40 years. 
• Each client must not have owned a property in the UK in the last the years.
• The maximum loan-to-income is 4.49 times salary or 4.75 times salary if the income is over £50,000.

4) NatWest's Family-Backed Mortgage

NatWest's new Family-Backed mortgage, sometimes known as a ‘joint borrower sole proprietor’ (JBSP) mortgage, can help buyers get onto the property ladder sooner or borrow more money. It lets borrowers add a second person to the mortgage, but without them owning the property.

Adding a second person to the mortgage as a 'non-owner', can help borrowers access larger mortgages than they would otherwise have been able to borrow, which means they could buy their own home sooner than they thought. And, the non-owner could be a family member or friend. 

• The non-owning borrower must seek independent legal advice before completion. An Independent Legal Advice Certificate will be sent to the non-owning borrower with the mortgage offer, seeking confirmation legal advice has been obtained.
• Their future borrowing limits will be affected because the mortgage will show on their credit report and will be used in future affordability calculations.
• Standard residential mortgage policy rules will apply to all applicants, including NatWest's eligibility criteria of a minimum age of 18 and a maximum age of 75.

5) Barclays Family Springboard Mortgage

This scheme has been available for years and, surprisingly, is not used as much as it should be.

Applicants can use a family or friend’s savings to buy a house with their own mortgage, and the person lending the money should* get their money back, with interest. 

You can borrow the full purchase price of your home because your helper provides 10% as security for five years. The Barclays Family Springboard can provide a 100% loan-to-value mortgage.

• The family member or friend can earn an "attractive" rate of interest on their savings for the agreed term.
• The saver's money will only be returned provided the mortgage account is not in arrears.* The saver's money can also help more than one family member or friend get their own place at the same time.

    

Call Trinity Financial on 0808 1642174 to secure a first-time buyer mortgage, book a consultation, or complete our mortgage questionnaire. 

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

More than 100,000 price reductions were recorded across the UK housing market in April, marking the highest figure for any April since 2019, according to new data from TwentyEA.

The analytics firm reported that 104,794 price drops were made last month, pushing the total number of reductions in 2025 to nearly 388,000. This represents a 20.6% rise year-on-year and is the highest total the firm has recorded over this period.

Despite the increase in volume, the overall rate of price reductions—defined as the proportion of listings with at least one price cut—has remained relatively stable. In 2025 so far, 38.0% of listings have included at least one reduction, compared with 38.4% in 2024. TwentyEA noted that the rise in raw numbers is largely due to an increase in the volume of properties for sale.

The latest House Price Index from Rightmove shows the average price of property coming to the market rose by 0.6% on a monthly basis at the start of May and by 1.2% annually to £379,517. Despite asking prices hitting a new record high, this is the slowest rate of growth since 2016.

Anthony Emmerson, director of Trinity Financial, says: “Some house sellers might be prepared to reduce their prices to secure a timely sale, but many are holding off for the highest price. This really is area-specific data because lots of our clients are buying properties where there is high demand." 

Changes in reduction rates have varied by region and price band. While most price brackets saw lower rates of reduction, properties priced over £1 million were the exception, with a 2.0 percentage point rise compared with last year. Regionally, only Inner London and the South West have seen an uptick in the proportion of listings undergoing price cuts—by 1.4 and 0.6 percentage points respectively.

Source: Moneyweek, Mortgage Strategy and Property Reporter

Call Trinity Financial on 0808 1642174 to secure a mortgage, book a consultation, or complete our mortgage questionnaire. 

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

In a move welcomed by many, the Bank of England has cut interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25% - the lowest rate since May 2023. 

A lower base rate is designed to boost spending by making borrowing, including mortgages, cheaper - but cutting rates means savers get lower returns.

At its meeting ending on 7 May 2025, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of 5–4 to reduce Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 4.25%. Two members preferred to reduce Bank Rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 4%. Two members preferred to maintain Bank Rate at 4.5%.

The cheapest mortgage rates start at just over 3.8%, and now that the base rate has come down, they may well get lower over the coming weeks.

Given the scale of fixed-rate price reductions we have seen recently, it is a good time to take a mortgage. We hope the cheapest fixed rates get closer to 3.5% this year, meaning many people will have more money to spend and boost the economy.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves was quoted on the BBC website as saying: "This interest rate cut is welcome news, and the fourth since we came into government making it cheaper for businesses to borrow, reducing the cost of a new mortgage, making homeownership more accessible, car finance more affordable and easing the pressure on those paying off personal loans. But there is more to do, and I know families are still facing cost of living pressures."

Call Trinity Financial on 0808 1642174 to secure a mortgage or book a consultation

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage 

Most borrowers taking out a mortgage opt for a two or five-year fix. But is it better to fix in for two or five years?

Mortgage rates have been coming down, and some of the two-year fixed rates currently undercut the five-year fixes.

The length of the mortgage rate borrowers take often depends on their attitude to risk. Most people do not want to fix into a higher rate than necessary, especially with multiple banks and economists expecting the Bank of England base rate to come down to around 4% this year. However, given current global affairs, there is also a chance rates could go up. 

With so many homeowners due to remortgage this year and huge numbers of first-time buyers and home-movers set to buy, choosing the right mortgage deal is essential and not necessarily straightforward.  

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: “Many borrowers want payment security, so they opt for five-year fixes. Those taking two-year deals often suspect rates will come down and there may be more competitively priced rates over the near to medium term. I know Trinity's director, Jed Newton, expects rates to decrease over the near term.

“We used to tell many borrowers that when taking a variable or tracker mortgage, they need to be able to afford to take the gamble by opting against the payment security of a fix, and the same almost applies to borrowers taking two-year deals today. Many people don't want to take a five-year fix and then see rates come down, but ultimately, they may give up the chance of longer-term payment security.

"If you can get a two or five-year rate close to 4%, then you are getting pretty decent value for money."

Price gap between two and five-year fixes

There is a relatively small price gap between two- and five-year fixes for most borrowers unless they have a smaller deposit. Not long ago, the five-year fixes were much cheaper, but this is not always the case anymore. 

Many lenders offer five-year fixes at their lowest rates, and they also offer more generous loan sizes when borrowers opt for a five-year fix. It is worth noting that some fixes are available below 3.8% at the moment.

What other mortgage options are there?

There is currently a good choice of mortgage rates. Some lenders offer one-year fixes to new and existing customers. There are also 1.5-year, three-, four-, and ten-year fixes. There are also fixed-for-term mortgages, with between 11 and 40-year fixes, designed to enable some borrowers to secure more generous loan sizes.

More banks and building societies also offer competitively priced Bank of England base rate mortgages, and some do not have early repayment charges.

Are there other reasons to opt for shorter-term fixes or tracker rates?

• If you plan to sell your property soon, opting for a longer-term fix may not make sense because of the costs involved in repaying the mortgage early.
• If you are a first-time buyer or have a low deposit, it often makes sense to take a short-term fix and assess the market in two years, when you hopefully have more equity in your home.
• If you are not getting on with your partner and worry you may separate or divorce, a shorter-term fix or tracker may also make sense.
• Some lenders do not offer any early repayment charge-free rates apart from their expensive standard variable rates. This means tracker rates are a good bet for those needing flexibility, potentially to make regular or lump sum overpayments. 

Porting your mortgage

If you are considering selling your property and moving up the ladder, you could port your mortgage, provided you meet the lender's new affordability rules. However, if you need to pay it off, you could have higher early repayment charges with a five-year fix.

Call Trinity Financial on 0808 1642174 to secure a mortgage or book a consultation

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage