UK Mortgage & Property Related News
A new survey appears to lift the lid on why landlords remain in buy to let, despite the tax and regulatory controls now making the sector so challenging.
Paragon Bank surveyed 500 landlords with up to three properties and with declared ambitions to build larger portfolios.
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First-time buyers could now be able to secure bigger mortgages when applying with Halifax.
The mortgage lender announced today that it is making £2billion available for first-time buyers who need to borrow up to 5.5 times their annual income.
To be eligible for what Halifax is calling its ‘First-time buyer boost,’ buyers will need a total household income of £50,000 or more, which will need to come from employment.
They will also need to be purchasing a property with a deposit of at least 10 per cent.
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Rightmove says the average first-time buyer mortgage payment is nearly £150 lower than the mortgage rate peak in July 2023.
Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker shows how average mortgage rates have decreased since the peak in July 2023. The average monthly mortgage payment for a typical first-time buyer is now £949, compared with £1,096 in July 2023, a saving of nearly £150 (£147), or 13%.
Mojo Mortgages’ data has revealed that extending a mortgage from 25 to 35 years can cost the average first-time buyer an extra £87,180.
John Fraser-Tucker, head of mortgages at Mojo, says: “Our research has found with the current average mortgage rate for a two-year fix (75% LTV) at 5.44%, the total cost of an average-priced house (£285,000) varies significantly on the loan term.
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According to the survey, 34.8% of UK adults believe buying a home is more challenging and stressful than selling, with 27.8% claiming it to be the other way round. The remainder didn’t know.
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This is the message from mortgage lender Skipton Building Society which has reacted to the Labour announcement all landlords must meet an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of Band C by 2030.
The building society is offering and delivering free EPC Plus assessments to all of its members to help improve energy efficiency awareness.
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Soaring rates have made mortgages a hot topic in the UK. Despite this, the phrase ‘what is a mortgage?’ receives an average of 4,400 Google searches per month, indicating that many people are still confused about the subject. So, how many people actually understand certain mortgage-related terms, and how many are left scratching their heads?
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I’ve nearly finished a two-year fixed rate and starting to look at remortgaging soon. I bought my property at the end of 2022, and it needed quite a lot of work. I’ve upgraded the kitchen, bathroom and redecorated throughout.
When I bought the property it was £325,000 and it’s now worth £375,000. Will this be taken into account when I remortgage?
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Three of the top five landlords in parliament are now Labour MPs, reflecting the shifting make-up of the ruling party ahead of major plans to tackle rental reform in government.
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AHMRC crackdown on buy-to-let tax scheme is panicking landlords, according to reports. Property 118 claimed to offer a way round stamp duty and capital gains tax amid a HMRC crackdown and clampdown, according to the I.
But it was served with a “stop notice” by the taxman last month, meaning it must immediately stop promoting its schemes. This follows a decision in February to issue what’s known as “reference numbers” to its arrangements, a signal that HMRC believes the schemes equate to tax avoidance.
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