News

  1. Home
  2. News
image

Low-deposit mortgages return after Covid slump

by Bbc - By Kevin Peachey 2021-01-20

Low-deposit mortgages have made a return as the market emerges from a Covid-related slowdown.Mortgage products for homeowners with a deposit of 10% of their property's value have risen more than fourfold compared with last summer's low.The increase, based on figures from financial information service Moneyfacts, could offer some relief to first-time buyers.But the cost of mortgages will remain an issue for many.'Homeownership dreams'In early September last year, there were only 44 mortgage
Read more
image

Mortgage lending surges to 13-year high

by BBC 04 Jan 2021 2021-01-20

UK lenders approved more than 100,000 mortgages in November, the most in 13 years.House purchases dropped in April and May as pandemic restrictions took hold.But a stamp duty holiday, which expires in March, sparked a flurry of homebuying activity and helped buoy home prices.House buying and a recovering stock market contrast with rising unemployment and an ailing UK economy.Figures last week from building society Nationwide showed house prices in December were up 7.3%."The good news is that
Read more
image

Help to buy is only helping to push up the price of our flat

by The Guardian 2021-01-20

I reserved a plot at Nu Living’s 360 Barking development in London 10 months ago. It cost £400,000 for a 71 sq metre flat which is expensive for the area and I used the government’s help to buy scheme to fund it. I also used Nu’s recommended mortgage broker and solicitor.However, my mortgage lender valued the property at only £330,000. Under help-to-buy rules, the developer can’t charge more than the bank valuation.Nu rejected this and asked me to get a valuation from another lender,
Read more
image

When does the stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland end?

by BBC - By Simon Read Business reporter 2021-01-23

House hunters are taking advantage of lockdown rules to travel hundreds of miles to view homes, according to estate agents.Many buyers are keen to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday which is due to end on 31 March.In July, the government suspended stamp duty on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England and Northern Ireland to help boost the market.What is stamp duty?Stamp duty is a tax paid by people buying properties, although it varies slightly across the UK.In England and
Read more