July 1st, 2010
Many people lay the blame for the credit crunch firmly at the feet of the sub-prime mortgage sector, others have pointed the finger at merchant banks and hedge funds, whilst some have even suggested that China is directly at fault for the current state of western finances.
To a certain extent all of these accusations carry some merit (most particularly the one regarding the sub-prime mortgage sector) but there is another factor that comes into play regarding those mortgages which is perhaps more fundamental, and likely to cause more long-lasting damage.
Over the last decade and a half the value of the average home has sky-rocketed. Some houses increased by as much as 100% in value over a decade. The rise in prices was largely sustained by a ready supply of credit, this increased demand massively, and as there is relatively fixed supply when it comes to housing, the only place that the price was going to go was up.
This resulted in large numbers of people borrowing on houses that were far beyond their means, it seemed that everyone could get a large enough mortgage to pay for a house regardless of what their particular financial circumstances were like.
For those people who have stretched their income now is the perfect time to reduce your levels of borrowing and save money in the long term on your mortgage repayments. The new government and the recent emergency budget indicate we are likely to see relatively low interest rates for some time to come although bank base cannot remain this low forever.
It’s therefore a good time to look at remortgaging and trackers in particular can look like good value for money in the short term. There are several ways you can reduce your mortgage in this period of low interest rates. You can remortgage and reduce your mortgage term, although you should pay attention to how this will affect your repayments when rates do rise. Another option is to look at offset mortgage products which allow you to pay no interest on the equivalent amount of savings held in the offset account however offset rates continue to be a little uncompetitive.
For many the best of way of reducing your mortgage may be to use a savings account and then make use of the typical 10% overpayment facility offered by most mortgage lenders. It’s worth checking whether you have the right to make overpayments and to what extent but the majority of products do allow this. Interest rates aren’t particularly attractive at the moment but banks like Santander are offering some excellent deals on savings accounts that are definitely worth a look.
If you’ve survived the bubble bursting, whatever state your finances are in, it’s important that you pay down any debts you do have whilst interest rates are low, and save what you can in order to give yourself a bit of a cushion should the situation deteriorate further, or if interest rates rise and your mortgage costs a little more in the future.
Tags: pay off mortgage, reducing borrowing, reducing mortgage, Savings
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June 9th, 2010
A recent report by the Council of Mortgage lenders has revealed that the number of homes repossessed in the UK fell by 7.5% in the first three months of 2010. Home repossession is one of the ultimate fears for any homeowner, and the fact that the figure is falling is perhaps proof that the finances of the nation have recovered a little.
In terms of the actual number of repossessions that figure fell from 10,600 homes in the final three months of 2009 to 9,800 in the first three months of 2010. Most encouragingly that number was 26% lower than the same period in 2009 when an enormous 13,200 people lost their homes.
The CML said that the biggest factor in the drop of repossessions was the drop in the interest rate. In March 2009, partially in response to the rising number of people losing their homes, the Bank of England dropped its base interest rate to 0.5% and has kept it there ever since. This meant that many people who were looking at the precipice, even those who found themselves unemployed, were able to claw back some of the arrears on their mortgages.
On the back of these positive figures that CML has said that it may revise it’s original forecast of 53,000 repossessions for the year should there be no further problems with the economy.
The news did, however, come with a warning from the CML. If interest rates were to increase, it warned, many hundreds of thousands of people could find themselves struggling to meet higher repayment costs and therefore find themselves facing the prospect of repossession. It warned that it was imperative for the BoE to keep the rates low for as long as possible, even in the face of rising inflation.
Mortgage Interest rates have however fallen to record lows for those customers with a sizeable deposit and good credit history. The personal loans market is also improving steadily with Santander’s flagship product for existing customers having a typical of 8.9%, and secured loan rates also falling to levels more in line with previous years.
At the end of the day the news from the CML is positive, though there is the warning that things could deteriorate at any moment and we should not forget that even though the numbers are dropping, nearly 10,000 people lost their homes in the first three months of this year, the economic crisis, whatever the figures may say, is very much still with us.
Tags: House Prices, Personal Loans, Repossessions, Santander, Savings
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May 27th, 2010
Over the past few weeks new mortgage lenders have been popping up at quite a pace, with Platform Igroup and Kensington all returning to the market after considerable time away there is at last some possibility for clients with less than perfect credit history to obtain new mortgages although loan to value limits are still strict.
These lenders maintain adamantly in the press that they are lending to prime borrowers only however the truth is that they are lending to customers who would have been considered near prime or very light adverse in the days preceding the credit crunch.
To boot this week also saw the announcement that Aldermore mortgages had opened its doors to the main intermediary marketplace for both residential and buy to let loans, as well as Precise Mortgages adding further new options in the Buy to Let mortgage marketplace.
Kensington and Igroup in particular have filled the much needed whole between highly competitive high street residential mortgage rates and ultra high adverse rates offered by the likes of Platform and Cheshire Mortgage Corp. They have rates ranging between the 4-6% mark which are much more palatable than 8% plus offerings from the other two.
For further information on any of the products from these new lenders speak to one of our independent mortgage brokers on 0845 4594490
Tags: Adverse Mortgages, Aldermore Mortgages, Igroup Mortgages, Kensington Mortgages, Platform Mortgages, Precise Mortgages, Sub Prime Mortgages
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May 24th, 2010
Mortgage Interest rates continue to creep slowly downwards towards the current bank base rate of 0.5% and it’s clear to mortgage brokers that while the range of products on offer in the market currently is still a major factor preventing true growth in the property sector particularly in buy to let, It is still very encouraging to see the mortgage works increase their maximum loan to value for buy to let mortgages to 80%.
The new products are quite competitively priced and so this reduction of minimum deposit size is one of the few examples of lenders returning to a competitive spirit since HSBC announced their 2% tracker rates more than a year ago.
Fixed rates are available from 4.69% with a 2.5% arrangement fee, 5.69% with a 1.5% fee and 5.79% with a £1795 arrangement fee and a 5% early repayment charge during the initial term of the product. Standard legal and valuation charges would apply.
A lending limit of £350,000 at this LTV will reduce the popularity of the product in the south east but should help to ensure that TMW are not saturated with new business, and it is likely that this too will be increased in the not too distant future.
For further information about these products please speak to one of our mortgage advisors on 0845454490.
Tags: Buy to Let, Buy to Let Mortgages, Loan to Value, The Mortgage Works, TMW
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May 19th, 2010
Just a short post to announce that you can now get live online quotes direct from our main site for Life Insurance, Permanent Health Insurance, Mortgage Protection and Critical Illness Insurance direct from the Rightmortgageadvice.co.uk website.
To get an instant quote today follow this link for Life Insurance Quotes.
If you have life insurance cover which was arranged prior to a marriage, or before increasing your mortgage value or mortgage term it may need to be reviewed. It’s crucial to ensure that your protection requirements are reviewed regularly to ensure that it is arranged in the most tax efficient manner and will benefit the people you intended it to.
To discuss protection requirements and products available call one of mortgage protection advisors on 08454594490 for advice.
Tags: Income Protection, Life Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Mortgage Life Insurance, Mortgage Protection, Permanent Health Insurance
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April 23rd, 2010
A recurring theme when speaking with buy to let investors across the country at the moment is the difficulty being caused by the dire lack of realistic products for remortgaging or making new purchases.
With current requirements for a minimum deposit of at least 25% and interest rates beginning around the 4% mark for variable rates with deposits of 40% and over its easy to see how many think the current markets offerings are nothing more than a cynical attempt to recoup wider losses by the big banks. And with arrangements fee’s going at anything up to 3.5% I have to agree with them.
There is however another option for Landlords who hold several properties or who have a sizeable income aside from their rental. The private banking sector is increasingly taking up a larger share of this market and with potential interest rates starting from 2.5% or so above base rate and fees typically between 1-2% of the loan balance they make a very attractive proposition to the right clientele.
These lenders not only have the experience in dealing with larger loan sizes and non standard properties, but the human underwriting to look at individual cases which would not meet the standard criteria of high street buy to let mortgage lenders.
The downside is that they typically require assets of around £250,000+ without taking your main residential property into account and or an income of over £100,000 per annum. So while they could prove invaluable for those landlords with a decent portfolio gearing with 25% or more in equity or for the first time investor with a good main income they won’t provide any refuge for the many landlords who worked at maximum leverage and left themselves with less than 25% equity in the their overall portfolio.
If you have several buy to let properties on or about to come onto their standard variable or indeed of you have a significant income instead and would like to find out whether a private banking arrangement could be suitable contact speak to one of our mortgage advisors on 0845 4594490 for independent mortgage advice.
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February 25th, 2010
Question; I have been advised that my life insurance policy should be written into a trust, why is this?
There are several reasons why certain life insurance or assurance policies should be written into trust and generally they are to do with avoiding tax liabilities and or ensuring that the proceeds of a policy will reach the intended recipient.
About two thirds of people in the UK don’t have a valid will and testament and die “intestate” which is the term for an estate which does not have a valid will in place to determine where and how the estate proceeds will be divided up (sometimes there is a will in place which is no longer accurate and can be invalid for this reason too).
In this case there are rules which govern how the estate is split which can often leave the proceeds of a life policy being paid out to someone who is not the intended recipient.
A good example is a couple who are unmarried and have arranged a life policy on the life of the main breadwinner to repay the mortgage in the event of death, in this case if there were no valid will in place the proceeds of the policy would likely be passed on to the deceased’s family rather than the surviving partner which could include children from a previous marriage or the deceased’s parents for example.
In another scenario a life policy which was written to pay out to a couple’s children on the last survivors death in order to cover inheritance tax liabilities would itself become part of the deceased’s estate, and therefore liable to inheritance tax itself if it were not written into trust.
The rules around taxation and particularly the taxation of trusts change regularly and this is one of the reasons why mortgage advisors will recommend a regular review of your circumstances. A policy once written into trust may well one day be better off outside of it and therefore it’s important to regularly check that existing provisions are still arranged in the most tax efficient and sensible manner possible.
If you have a life insurance policy which you think may need to be placed into trust or to speak further to a mortgage advisor call 0845 4594490 for independent advice.
Tags: Estates, Inheritance tax, Intestate, Life Assurance, Life Insurance, Tax Efficient, Tax Mitigation, trusts, Wills
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February 22nd, 2010
This is a really interesting question for me as it crops up quite a lot however it’s important to remember that borrowing from a bank is not the same as depositing money into it.
Firstly on the reasons you should use small regional lenders, they are currently leading the market in terms of mortgage and savings rates and you may well find their customer service slightly less like dealing with a brick wall! There really are some cracking products being delivered by small regional lenders at the moment and there is really very little reason to shy away from them.
If you were a mortgage borrower with an institution that failed then there would be very little likely-hood of the administrators coming round with repossession orders even if the law permitted them to do so (which I am pretty sure it doesn’t but I am not a solicitor), because selling an entire loan book would be ludicrously complex and probably produce a much lower return than simply selling the book of loans to another institution, something which is in fact very common trading by Banks anyway.
Even in the event that there was no one forthcoming to purchase the loan book, the administrators would simply let the book run and pass administration to an outsourcing firm – again quite common.
The government currently in power has made it clear that it will not allow any financial institution in the UK to fail regardless of its size. The FSCS or Financial Services Compensation Scheme currently does not discriminate between the size of institutions either so as long the provider is a part of this scheme and falls under UK regulation this is not affected.
Tags: building societies, Financial Services Compensation Scheme, FSCS, Loan Book, Mortgage Administration, regional lenders, small lenders
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February 19th, 2010
Question; What is a higher lending charge and how does it affect me as a borrower?
A higher lending charge is a fee lenders may apply to borrowing over a certain percentage of a property value.
For example a lender may choose to impose an extra charge on borrowers who borrow more than 80% of a property’s value, or perhaps more than 85% or 90% etc. Often the fee will be a percentage of the amount over this limit which you borrow.
A typical example would be a 5% charge on all lending over 80% of the property value. In this case if your home was worth £100,000 and you borrowed £90,000 you would pay 5% of the £10,000 over and above the 80% limit which would give a higher lending charge of £500.
Obviously it’s important to check how the fee is calculated as it could be based on the whole loan which would normally mean the fee could be considerably higher than the example above.
Another important consideration is what the lender does with the fee. Some lenders just charge a fee to increase their profit margin on these loans to cover potential losses if they have to sell properties undervalue at auction. However if the lender uses the fee to buy a Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee which would insure the lender against such losses, it’s important to be aware that in the event of you handing back the keys and the property being sold for less than the outstanding mortgage balance the insurer would then have the right to pursue you for their losses under the right of “subrogation”.
The FSA forced lenders to stop referring to these charges as Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee fee’s because it was worried that this gave the impression that such insurance policies would benefit the borrower as well as the lender, so be aware that if you pay this fee or have done in the past it will not protect you from the lender or insurer pursuing you for any outstanding balances should the property have to be sold at undervalue after repossession.
Tags: Charges, FSA, Higher Lending Charge, MIG, Mortgage Fee's, Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee
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January 4th, 2010
Hello and happy new year! doesn’t it just feel great to be back in business? No? Perhaps the recession blues are getting you down then.
And on that note I thought I would begin the year with something completely unrelated to mortgages but connected to todays completion of the new world’s tallest building in Dubai.
You see there’s a lot of talk flying around about how can we ensure that this never happens again, that theres never another recession or credit crunch and that banks are never again allowed to overstretch themselves.
The answer to this question is in fact that you can’t. What goes up will in fact go down sooner or later, and growth is always followed by decline at some point down the road. Gamekeepers have known this longer than most and I first heard it put into terms by a comparison to the populations of foxes and rabits.
Fox and Rabbit populations have been recorded for centuries and it has long been observed that Rabbit populations mushroom until overcrowding causes disease to make them weaker and more vulnerable to predators like the Fox. And so Fox populations have also followed Rabbits peaks and troughs because the number of Fox’s inevitably goes up as Rabbit populations increase, but then when the Rabbits decline a lack of food for the Fox also inherantly leads to Fox populations going down too.
What’s the point of this? In the middle of the last boom I heard a theory that recessions can be predicted as they always appear to happen upon the construction completion of the world’s tallest building.
Now I had forgotten about this altogether until I heard on radio 4 this morning that the new world’s tallest building has just been completed in Dubai. The theory says that as building the world’s tallest building is a mark of prosperity then it is something that a country will only consider when the good times are rolling, and by the time its off the drawing board and into construction its pretty likely those good times are coming to an end.
So if you want to know when to sell everything, and go on an extended world tour keep an eye on those construction projects!
Now as for how to end a recession its pretty simple. Stop putting prices down and put them up instead, it’s just human nature that if prices are going down you wait to buy until their cheaper and if their going up you buy now before they get any higher – And that my friend is why you can gaurantee one thing,
It will, most definitely happen again.
Fin
Tags: blues, foxs and rabbits, recession, worlds tallest building
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