Welcome to The Mortgage Guide UK
The traditional mortgage in the UK was a 25 year mortgate, in which the building society lent three times the borrowers income. However times are quickly changing. Double digit house price inflation during the past 10 years has meant the house price to earnings ratio has increase faster than the rate of inflation. The historical …
The fall in US house prices is having a knock on effect on the US economy. With house prices falling it is causing a fall in consumer confidence and consumer spending. “Nouriel Roubini, economics professor at New York University, says the housing bust is slowly pulling America into recession. He cites a 14.4pc drop in …
Continue reading “US Mortgage Dealers going bust in record numbers”
With ever increasing levels of competition in the UK mortgage market mortgage dealers are increasingly looking into niche, unconventional mortgages to find a more profitable market. These niche markets are increasingly taking advantage of the difficulty UK first time buyers have in getting a mortgage. New mortgage schemes such as Joint MortgagesInterest Only MortgagesPerpetual mortgages50 …
Open Market Homebuy is a Government-backed scheme that aims to help certain groups of people who can not afford to buy a home on the open market without assistance The ’Homebuy’ scheme provides you with an equity loan equivalent to 25 per cent of the purchase price of a property.. The loan is paid back …
Increasingly mobile phones are being used as a means of electronic payment. Arthur D. Little, a firm of management consultants reckon that worldwide payments using mobile phones will climb from just $3.2 billion in 2003 to more than $37 billion by 2008. It works by having an electronic chip inside the mobile phone which acts …
Buy to let mortgages have become increasingly popular in recent years due to 2 main factors. 1. Rising UK house prices. House prices have increased by over 100% in the past 12 years, leading to excellent capital gains for homeowners. In addition some areas of the country have benefitted even more. 2. Strong renting Market. …
Continue reading “Buy To Let Mortgages: Is Now a good time ?”
Want to live together and get on the property ladder? – then Co-Buying may be an option. Co-Buying is when individuals legally group together and buy a property between 2, 3, 4 or more people known as ‘Co-Buyers’. Simple as that! Well it is simple as long as you are happy living with the other …
Barclays Bank yesterday reported annual profits of a record £7.14bn. This was a huge increase of 35% surge in pre-tax profits since 2006, taking them to a record. The very high profits were made despite writing off over £2bn in bad debt charges. These bad debt charges mostly came from it credit card division – …
A very good unsecured loan deal at the moment is offered by Northern Rock. They offer loan rates of 6.5% for loans between £1,000 and £25,0000. Unsecured loans can be taken out with a fixed interest rate for the whole period meaning that you know what the repayments will be over the course of the …
Homeowners who have bad credit histories are paying more than even for mortgages. According to Moneyexpert.com the charge for a bad credit mortgage has increased by 14% to a figure of £923. The high charge is justified on the ground of the increased risk associated with lending to people with bad credit histories. However when …
A recent article by Intelligent Finance suggest offset mortgages can be worth having a current account savings rate of 11%. The way offset mortgages is to combine your mortgage with your current account. THus any savings in your current account can be used to reduce your monthly mortgage payments. This is very worthwhile for those …
Continue reading “Offset Mortgages which can be worth of 11% savings rate”
Iran is selling more of its oil for payment in euros than dollars as it seeks to shift its foreign currency reserves away from the depreciating currency of its political enemy, the United States. The world’s fourth-biggest oil exporter has inserted a clause in its oil contracts allowing it to request payment in alternative currencies. …
Continue reading “Iran turns from dollar to euro in oil sales”
Bank of England have a video about the usefulness of money. (would make a good video for my AS economics students) Pretty down to earth for the Bank of England. “It would be pretty hard to buy a CD if you didn’t have any money” Via: UK Economics The bank have been given a target …
A recent analysis of the lending policy of the top 125 mortgage lenders found that approximately 30% were now offering mortgage terms of 40 years of more. Furthermore this trend to longer mortgages is becoming more popular as first time buyers struggle to get on the property ladder. Long term mortgages of 40 years and …
Continue reading “40 Year Mortgages Benefits and disadvantages”
I used to have a free business Bank account with HBOS – Halifax Bank of Scotland. However they started charging £15 a month so I looked for an alternative. On their website they say free business banking, but what they mean is that they don’t charge for transactions. RBS made £8.2 bn profit last year …
Banks who overcharged customers for things like exit fees and other late payment fees have now been accused of overcharging customers who want information about their overcharging. Customers are entitled to ask the bank for a list of all charges. The Data Protection Act stipulates the cost should be £10, but many banks are charging …
Continue reading “Banks Overcharging for information on exit fees”
There is an increasing worry that problems in the US housing market is spreading to medium risk mortgage loans. Worries about the sub prime market (highest risk type of loans) has been in evidence for a while. HSBC for example is getting ready to write off $11 billion in bad debt loans. However according to …
In the past week headlines about the US mortgage industry have dominated the news. In particular the number of defaults on mortgage payments is growing very rapidly. These defaults are concentrated on the sub prime sector. These mortgages are aimed at those with bad credit or non-status. Often these mortgages are approved without making any …
Many first time buyers struggle to get onto the property ladder because they are unable to save up a deposit. As house prices rise the minimum deposit is at least £10,000 on a £200,000 house. Many lenders such as the Halifax are offering 100% mortgages. The interest rate on 100% mortgages is usually a little …
Encouraged by Chancellor Gordon Brown’s “Green Initiative” more banks are promising to offer “Green Mortgages”. These mortgages provide incentives for home owners to take out extra finance in order to reduce the environmental impact of housing. For example the benefits of insulating roof and cavity wall insulation are quite high in terms of reducing energy. …
I thought this sounds like a good funny paradoy of Harry Potter and the mortgage market. Some how Harry Potter fighting off mortgage brokers doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as fighting the dark Lord. Written by: Mark R Edwards This is the blurb from the fifth instalment of this series, ‘Harry Potter …
Continue reading “Harry Potter and the Mortgage Repayments of Doom”
Banks are increasing charges through introducing new types of charges. This is response to the investigations of the FSA who are declaring some bank penalties as illegal. For example customers who were charged mortgage exit fees of more than £65 can claim the excess back. However to retain profit margins many banks are introducing new …
How To claim a refund for your Mortgage Exit Fees. Mortgage exit fees are the amount of money your bank or building society charge if you remortgage and leave them for a different lender. Mortgage exit fees should not be confused with early redemption penalties. These fees are charged if you leave your mortgage earlier …
The troubled American Mortgage industry suffered a further set back yesterday with record levels of defaults. The concerns created in the US housing market set share prices tumbling over renewed fears of the prospects of an impending US recession The Mortgage Bankers Association revealed that 4.95pc all loans tracked were in arrears of 30 days …
Prospects for UK Housing Market and Buy to Let Sector. For the past 3 years some commentators have been predicting the imminent collapse of UK property prices the Buy to let sector. Because house prices are rising faster than both average earnings and now rents, the economic fundamentals behind the strength of the sector are …
The UK CPI measure of inflation rose from 2.7% to 2.8%. The old rate RPI, which includes the cost of council tax and mortgage interest payments rose to 4.6%. Many feel this RPI measure is a more accurate reflection of individual living costs. On this basis real interest rates are quite low. – only 5.25% …
Continue reading “Inflation Increase increases Prospect of Future Rate Rise”
Current Trends in Mortgage Equity Withdrawal UK 2006-2007 Mortgage equity withdrawal has increases significantly in the past 6 years. In 2000 MEW accounted for just under 2% of personal disposable income. In 2003 this shot up to 9% of personal disposable income (£18bn). After a fall in the growth during 2004, MEW has again picked …
After a slowdown in mortgage approvals in December The number of mortgage approvals increased to 120,000 in January, according to figures released by the Bank of England. However the CBI report an upward pressure on prices from the factory gate. This continued inflationary pressures increases the likelihood of further interest rate rises in the UK. …
Continue reading “Mortage Approvals up but Inflation threatens to rise”
(guest blogger – John Campbell) It is a great feeling when you have paid the final instalment on your mortgage. In 1970 my first mortgage was taken out with mutual Leeds Permanent Building Society ‘The Leeds’. After privatisations and take-overs this eventually became the banking business Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS). The mortgage was a …
Continue reading “Mortgage Paid Off !!!! – A good Deed indeed”
If you remortgaged in the past 5 years it is likely you could benefit from a windfall. The FSA has stated that mortgage lenders must justify any increase in mortgage exit fees. Where there has been overcharging in the past they must pay consumers back. However the responsibility to claim the money back rests with …