Category Archives: Mortgages

‘Geopolitical uncertainties’ amid Iran war could slow fall in mortgage rates, says Halifax

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UK house price growth slowed in February as value of typical home rose 0.3% to £301,151

Halifax has warned that the US-Israel war on Iran could slow mortgage rate decreases this year, as it said that house price growth eased dramatically in February.

Halifax, which is part of Lloyds – Britain’s biggest mortgage lender – said the conflict in the Middle East was likely to affect global economies, stoke inflation and reduce the likely rate of interest rate cuts that influence borrowing costs for homebuyers.

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Survivor of financial abuse invited to advise ministers after Guardian report

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City minister Lucy Rigby acts after woman faced repossession of house burned down by controlling husband

A woman who was nearly killed by her abusive husband has been invited to advise the government on measures to support victims of financial abuse after the Guardian highlighted her story last weekend.

Francesca Onody was left homeless and penniless when her husband doused their cottage with petrol while she and her two children were inside. Her husband, Malcolm Baker, died when the property exploded.

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Reeves’s plan to cut cash Isa limit could raise mortgage rates, say finance bosses

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Building societies fear consumers will be put off from saving if chancellor’s budget announces a 40% reduction

Rachel Reeves’s plan to slash the annual cash Isa limit by 40% could lead to higher mortgage rates and deter consumers from saving, finance bosses have said.

The chancellor is expected to cut the maximum amount people can put into tax-efficient cash individual savings accounts from £20,000 a year to £12,000 in Wednesday’s budget.

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Cutting cash Isa limit will not boost stock market, MPs warn Rachel Reeves

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Treasury committee says move in November budget could push up mortgage rates instead

Cutting the annual cash Isa allowance will not encourage many savers to switch to shares but could push up mortgage costs, MPs have warned the chancellor.

Adults can put up to £20,000 a year in a tax-free Isa and spread the money between cash and stock market investments as they choose. In the 2023-24 tax year, 66% of all contributions went into cash savings.

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EU executive to propose short-term rental rules to tackle ‘social crisis’ in housing

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Bloc’s first affordable housing plan to cover issues such as tenants’ rights, property speculation and tourist lets

The EU executive will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as it seeks to confront the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, its first-ever housing commissioner has said.

In an interview with the Guardian and other European newspapers, Dan Jørgensen said it was time for Brussels policymakers to take housing seriously or cede ground to anti-EU populists, who, he said, did not have the answers to the shortage of affordable homes.

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UK lender offers 98% mortgage to first-time buyers – but bars bank of mum and dad

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Newcastle building society aims for those with smaller deposits and no help hoping to get on to housing ladder

First-time buyers are being offered the chance to borrow up to 98% of the price of a property – but they cannot get help with their deposit from the bank of mum and dad.

Newcastle building society’s First Step mortgage is designed to help those who have been saving to get on the housing ladder.

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‘Shock’ in store for 350,000 UK households on low-interest fixed-rate mortgages

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Those on typical £200,000 mortgages taken out between October 2020 and February 2023 may see costs jump by £3,996 a year this winter

More than 350,000 households who locked in to low-interest fixed-rate mortgages five years ago are expected to see their costs jump this winter as they reach the end of their deals.

Analysis by the bill management app Nous found almost half of mortgages taken out between October 2020 – as the housing market revived after an initial Covid shock – and February 2023 were five-year fixed-rate deals.

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Santander mortgage cap jumps by as much as 24% as bank eases lending rules

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Some higher-earning couples with smaller deposits could borrow extra £130,000 as a result of overnight changes

Some couples applying for a Santander mortgage will see the maximum they can borrow increase by £130,000 overnight after the bank loosened its lending rules.

Santander is the latest in a line of lenders to allow some borrowers to access bigger mortgages after intervention by the City regulator and new guidelines from the Bank of England designed to help more people on to the housing ladder.

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Average private rent in Great Britain falls for first time in five years

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Lower mortgage rates have helped cool rental sector after years of above-inflation increases in rent, data shows

Average private rents in Great Britain have fallen for the first time in five years as lower mortgage rates helped take some of the heat out of the rental sector, data shows.

Years of above-inflation increases in rents have put the squeeze on many households but the estate agent Hamptons said the average rent on a newly let property fell by 0.2% year on year in July. It was the first annual decline since August 2020, during the height of the Covid pandemic – although this national figure masks wide regional variations.

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New mortgage affordability rules help UK housing market avoid summer lull

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Record number of homes for sale has created ‘buyer’s market’ and kept price rises in check, Zoopla report says

The typical summer lull in Britain’s housing market has been avoided amid the availability of bigger home loans fuelling a “buyer’s market”, according to a property website.

Despite the signs of a bustling market, Zoopla said it had halved its house price forecast for 2025 as buyers were taking into account increased stamp duty costs in their offers in England and Northern Ireland.

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UK mortgage guarantee scheme due to end with no news on replacement

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More than 53,000 mortgages have been completed using scheme, which encourages lenders to offer up to 95% loans

A government scheme to encourage UK lenders to offer 95% mortgages is scheduled to end this month, with no word yet on when its replacement will be launched.

The mortgage guarantee scheme went live in April 2021 to help buyers with small deposits get on the property ladder.

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UK interest rate cut: what does it mean for mortgages and savings?

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The Bank of England has voted to cut the cost of borrowing, reducing the base rate to 4.25%. Here’s what it means for you

The Bank of England has cut interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25%.

It follows two interest rate cuts in the second half of last year, and another one in February this year.

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City watchdog ponders rule changes to simplify comparisons of financial products

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FCA to explore simplifying communications about savings accounts and review parts of its credit advertising rules

The City watchdog is considering changing rules to allow people to receive clearer information from financial firms to make it easier for them to find and compare products.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is exploring how it can simplify communications about savings accounts. The watchdog, which will announce its five-year strategy on Tuesday, will also review parts of its credit advertising rules, such as lengthy terms and conditions.

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Almost 40 firms banned from installing UK insulation amid botched jobs outcry

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Schemes backed by previous government to improve energy efficiency have left homeowners unable to sell

Almost 40 building companies have been blocked by the government from installing insulation amid a growing outcry over the profusion of botched jobs across the UK.

Ministers also announced that any homes found to have received botched insulation would have the issues put right by the installer responsible at no extra cost to the homeowner.

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UK mortgage rules could be eased to increase growth

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FCA also aims to change law to try to prevent a repeat of mass compensation schemes for consumers such as PPI

Mortgage rules could be loosened by the City regulator as it comes under government pressure to increase economic growth and home ownership across the UK.

The move to “simplify responsible lending” for property purchases is part of a range of proposals put forward by the Financial Conduct Authority in an attempt to prove that the watchdog is not standing in the way of the Labour cabinet’s “growth mission”.

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NatWest urges Reeves to ‘get balance right’ when changing debt rules

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Bank’s boss says chancellor must signal intentions clearly amid risk to borrowing and mortgage rates

Rachel Reeves must “get the balance right” when announcing changes to Britain’s debt rules in next week’s budget given the potential knock-on effects to borrowing and mortgage rates, the boss of NatWest has said.

The bank’s chief executive, Paul Thwaite, said markets would be sensitive to the chancellor’s reasons for releasing up to £50bn of borrowing headroom after she confirmed in Washington on Thursday that she planned to rewrite her fiscal rules.

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Don’t be fooled by the interest rate cut – higher rates are here to stay

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Mortgage payers and business owners vainly hope cut to 5% signals return to pre-pandemic era of cheap borrowing

Mortgage payers and business owners will be hopeful that a cut in interest rates to 5% by the Bank of England this week signals a return to the pre-pandemic era of low borrowing costs.

Unless much lower interest bills arrive soon, thousands of homeowners and businesses could be forced to sell up.

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Nationwide stops lending on some flood-risk properties

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Banks may follow suit after UK weather-related claims on home insurance reach new high

Britain’s biggest building society has stopped granting mortgages on some properties where there is a high risk of flooding but said this affected only “a very limited number” of homes.

Nationwide’s head of property risk, Rob Stevens, said the lender used mapping technology to identify which homes were vulnerable to flooding, and it would decline to grant a mortgage to buy a property it deemed to be at high risk.

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Barclays profits tumble 12% as UK interest rates hit mortgage demand

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Pre-tax profits drop to £2.3bn between January and March, down from £2.6bn last year

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Profits at Barclays tumbled 12% in the first quarter, as higher UK interest rates weighed on demand for mortgages and loans and its investment bank was hit by a backdrop of economic uncertainty.

The UK bank said pre-tax profits fell to £2.3bn in the first quarter, down from £2.6bn last year, when it reported the strongest quarterly profit since 2011 after a string of interest rate hikes by the Bank of England.

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UK house prices rise by 1.5% in biggest increase for 10 months

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Data from property website Rightmove finds average asking price has reached almost £370,000

An increase in buyer demand and stronger house sales during March have combined to push the average UK home’s asking price up by a further £5,279 to almost £370,000, as the market picks up after a “muted 2023”.

According to the UK’s biggest property website, Rightmove, this month’s 1.5% price growth is notably higher than the historical March average of 1%, and is the biggest monthly increase for 10 months.

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