The government has recently taken steps to try and help homeowners by changing court protocols in order to make it more difficult for lenders to take court action without taking other steps first in cases where homeowners have fallen behind with mortgage repayments.
It is hoped that this will help to reduce repossession levels, and lenders [...]
Recent figures have shown that since the start of October hundreds of mortgage deals have been pulled off the shelves by lenders who are becoming increasingly nervous in the current difficult financial market. Over the past year thousands of mortgage products have been taken off the shelves as lenders have become more and more concerned [...]
According to officials from the Council of Mortgage Lenders mortgage lending levels fell in August, with the value of mortgage lending having fallen by 12 percent compared to July and by 36 percent compared to August of the previous year. The total amount of new mortgage lending for the month came to just £21.8 billion. [...]
Potential property purchasers that want to take their chances on properties that go up for sale at auction could benefit according to a recent report, which suggests that auctions are cutting the prices of their properties. Auctioneers are being forced to cut the prices on properties going under the hammer due to the housing slump, [...]
The latest interest rate cut, which was announced after the February 2008 Monetary Policy Committee meeting, could benefit many homeowners according to recent reports. This comes after nine out of the ten top mortgage providers in the UK announced that they would be passing on the full 0.25% rate cut to consumers. Many lenders rushed [...]
Over recent months getting a mortgage has become increasingly difficult and expensive, with many lenders reserving their best deals and lowest interest rates for those that are able to put down a sizeable deposit as opposed to the traditional 5% deposit. The changes in mortgage lending and costs have come about as a result of [...]
Early last week the government announced that it was suspending stamp duty for twelve months on homes up to the value of £175,000. Stamp duty is not applicable on homes up to £125,000 anyway, but the recent move increased the threshold by £50,000 for twelve months in order to try and ease affordability issues for [...]
Following the Monetary Policy Committee meeting that was held last week the Bank of England has announced that the base rate is to be kept on hold at 5% for yet another month. This signifies the fifth month in a row where the base rate has remained unchanged, as the central bank and members of [...]
Over recent months the housing market in the UK has experienced a real slump, with house prices falling and property sales falling to their lowest level in many years. Property sales and housing transactions have been affected in a number of ways over recent months and for a number of reasons. The tight credit conditions [...]
According to the recently released minutes from the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting held in early August there was a split vote with regards to interest rate movement. However, despite this many officials now believe that the minutes indicate that the MPC and the Bank of England are now prepared to look at cutting rates [...]
Homeowners that have been keen to sell their homes before house prices plummet further have found themselves hitting a brick wall over recent months, as a number of factors have contributed to the housing market facing its worse slump in decades. Estate agents have reported very poor sales figures for properties, and many homeowners have [...]
A recent report has shown how some housing developers are now trialling a scheme where a potential property buyer can try out the property that they are thinking of buying for a day or two before they make a decision or commitment. With house sales falling as a result of right credit conditions, falling house [...]
Back in April of this year the high street lender HSBC announced the launch of a new mortgage product designed to help homeowners who were on cheap fixed rate mortgages that were due to come to an end. The bank promised to match the current interest rate of those on low rate fixed mortgages with [...]
The mortgage squeeze in the UK doesn’t show any signs of easing according to officials in a recent report. Officials from the Council of Mortgage Lenders have recently said that the problems in the mortgage market do not seem to be letting up, and tighter credit and lending conditions are still very much in place. [...]
Over recent months first time buyers have experienced huge difficulties when it comes to getting a mortgage to purchase a property, with the global credit crunch resulting in far tighter credit conditions, and with lenders demanding higher deposits and increasing the interest rates on mortgage loans. With house prices falling, and expected to fall further, [...]
According to a recent report many homeowners are panicking because of the ongoing drop in property values in the UK, and this has resulted in a million homes being up for sale recently. Property values have been falling for some months, and many industry officials believe that they could fall by in excess of 10% [...]
A recent report has shown that many homeowners in the London area could find it increasingly difficult to sell their homes in the near future, as a result of new plans that may be introduced to force homeowners to inform potential buyers about the risk of flooding. It is already very difficult for many homeowners [...]
With lenders raising the borrowing costs on their standard variable rate interest mortgages, and many people due to come of cheap mortgage deals, there are many homeowners that may be thinking about remortgaging in order to ensure a more affordable deal as their existing mortgage deal draws to an end. However, some industry officials have [...]
Following the July Monetary Policy Committee meeting last week it has been announced that the base interest rate is to remain on hold at 5%. The Bank of England cut the base rate three times since December, taking it from 5.75% to 5%. However, since May the base rate has remained static after inflation levels [...]
The minutes of the latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which was held earlier this month, has shown that there was a three way split on interest rate movement for the month of July, indicating that setting the base rate is becoming an increasing challenge for members of the powerful committee and for the Bank of [...]
A recent report has shown how asking prices on properties in the UK are getting lower with a fall of an average 3.2% in asking prices over recent weeks. The data comes from property experts Right Move. Many experts have already predicted that the housing market will continue to cool down over the coming year, [...]
Over recent years the number of 100% mortgages being taken out has risen, with fewer and fewer first time buyers able to afford to raise the deposit to purchase a property because of the cost of properties in the UK at present. Many lenders will not offer 100% mortgages to applicants because of the risks [...]
Over the past year the benefits of owning a home as opposed to renting one have plummeted by 75% according to a recent report. This means that in many parts of the country people that are renting a home are actually better off than those that have bought their own home. According to the report [...]
Officials have claimed in a recent report that an increasing number of first time buyers are now looking to mortgage brokers for advice and assistance in finding a mortgage. It is thought that this is something to do with the tighter credit conditions stemming from the global credit crunch, and with the increased difficulties that [...]
With property prices falling, mortgages becoming more difficult to obtain, and homeowners experiencing increased difficulties in selling their homes, the housing sector is already experiencing its fair share of problems. However, a new problem has recently reared up for sellers, and this comes in the form of gazundering, which is an unethical but not illegal [...]
There has been no change to the mortgage crisis in the UK despite government intervention, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Officials from the CML have said that the problems in the mortgage industry are still ongoing, and the squeeze on credit and mortgages continues even though the government has pumped billions of pounds [...]