Search Results for: Mortgages
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Latest property news
Two industry giants sign up to ‘modern’ mortgages system
Both Connells and LSL's financial services arms have committed to using Twenty7Tec's Mortgage Source and Apply systems this year.
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Mortgages at their most affordable for 10 years, says Halifax
Halifax announces best home loan affordability for a decade, with borrowers spending less than a third of their disposable income on mortgage payments.
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Portfolio landlords struggle to get mortgages as PRA rules kick in, research shows
Nearly three quarters of landlords with multiple properties are finding it harder to get either mortgages or remortgage existing debt as the Prudential Regulation Authority’s second wave of mortgage rules kick in, it has been revealed. Research completed on behalf of lender Foundation Home Loans among 2,000 landlords found that 70% of those with more than four properties had struggled to obtain further finance to buy more properties, while half of those with between one and three properties also faced problems. The second wave of PRA rules went live in September last year to allay fears that excessive borrowing by banks on generous terms to landlords might endanger the economy during a downturn. The larger the portfolio, the harder it has become for landlords to get the green light for more finance, largely because those with more than four properties are now effectively classed as enterprises and must submit business plans to get a home loan or remortgage an existing one. Rejected by lenders Two thirds of landlords with eleven or more properties within their portfolio now believe the range of mortgages available to them has dropped, while a quarter think they are now more likely to be rejected by…
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Crying game? Mortgages driving first time buyers to tears
It’s fair to say that applying for mortgages is few people’s idea of fun, but can the process ever drive them to tears? It can, according to research among home owners by mortgage broker Trussle, which has discovered that 8% of all first-time buyers get teary-eyed while attempting to get their first mortgage, or 27,000 people every year. The research also found that 9% of first time buyers had been discouraged during the process of buying their property because they had felt getting a mortgage was an ordeal, while nearly a quarter of first-time buyers are forced to time off work to sort out their mortgage application. This equates to 77,740 people last year. Stressful Also, 23% of the 2,000 people quizzed during the research said the experience of getting a mortgage was stressful, while many found making a mortgage application to be “opaque and time-consuming”. This is also persuading many people to stay put with their existing lender rather than switch provider and remortgage, says Trussle. It reckons there are two million people on Standard Variable Rate mortgages who could save thousands of pounds a year if they were to switch to a mortgage with a more competitive rate.…
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As Connells’ new homes and mortgages businesses boom, what’s its magic formula?
Connells appears to have blown the Brexit cobwebs off its business following two key announcements. The company says that last year its network of offices, which includes Connells and Sequence branded branches, recorded a six per cent rise in new homes instructions and a five per cent increase in exchanges compared to 2015. It also says its 40-strong land team has increased returns from its land department by a third in 2016 and that it is optimistic about this year. “The fundamentals of the market remain strong – there is continued appetite for land to meet the demand for new homes, a pro housebuilding and pro homeownership Government in place, buyer incentives and good, competitive finance available,” says Connells Group Land Director Roger Barrett (pictured, left). “This, alongside the steady growth in new homes supply from national, regional and local house builders, will see a buoyant market where we will experience further growth in the total number of new homes sales in 2017.” It’s mortgage business has also been doing well and in 2016 recorded a 10% increase in the number of mortgages its arranged for customers compared to 2015, generating a loan book of £10.3 billion. One surprising figures from…
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Zoopla-backed Landbay launches landlord mortgages
Peer-to-peer (P2P) buy-to-let mortgage lender Landbay has launched a new range of products for professional landlords that meet new tighter lending regulations set by the Prudential Regulation Authority that came into force in this week. These require rent to be 125% of mortgage payments at 5.5% APR and are yet another squeeze on the buy-to-let sector. The move by Landbay, which gained full FCA authorisation on 22 December last year after launching in April, comes after Zoopla invested a ‘six figure sum’ in the company. Zoopla also now promotes Landbay’s P2P offering via its ‘investment channel’ on Zoopla.co.uk. “The buy to let market is set to become more complex in 2017, as landlords face an increasingly intricate lending landscape and tighter regulation,” says Landbay’s Chief Lending Officer Paul Clampin (pictured). “It’s in such a context that borrowers and brokers need solutions that meet their changing needs, so these new products have been designed to do just that for the growing number of professional landlords.” Landbay was one of four ‘promising and innovative start-ups’ that Zoopla pumped £1m into during February last year. The other three include online mortgage adviser Trussle, property management softwre company Fixflo and housing data firm Property…
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