In the last week, the country endured a not-so-successful ‘mini-budget’ which sent shock waves across the mortgage market. We saw rates rise quickly and some of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders withdrew a variety of mortgage products in response to the market volatility.
Lenders re-enter the mortgage market
This week, the availability of products has started to pick up again with lenders returning to the market with new, revised products and in most cases at more expensive rates.
The Halifax in addition to other lenders are set to announce new rates today.
A spokesman for Halifax said this was to “reflect the continued increase in mortgage market pricing over recent weeks, we are expecting to see two-year fixed deals for a customer offering a 25% deposit to be up from 4.61% to 5.84%.”
Stricter stress testing
With increased rates comes stricter affordability testing. With lenders like the TSB introducing a stricter test of affordability – checking whether homeowners can cope if rates were rates to rise to 8% (or 7% for first-time buyers) before accepting an application.
We are seeing similar tests being carried out by other lenders and across some buy-to-let products.
Steps you can take
With many lenders beginning to return to the market, we recommend you arrange to speak to one of our award-winning mortgage brokers. They’ll be able to review your circumstances. It’s also interesting to note that some lenders only re-price their products (for existing customers) once a month, this might mean we are still able to access some very competitive rates on a product transfer rather than a remortgage.
If you would like to discuss your current mortgage or have a large portfolio that you’d like us to review, speak to a member of the team or our senior broker, Danny O’Keeffe on 0208 364 3444 alternatively schedule a call back by clicking on the button below.
Rents Accelerate in Face of Chronic Supply Shortage
According to new research by Hometrack, rental growth has accelerated over the last 12 months from an annual rate of less than 2% in July 2021 to 12.3% today. Average rent increased by £115 per month since last year, to stand at £1,051 per calendar month. Rental growth is out-pacing earnings growth in all regions of the UK.
Rising rents are adding to cost-of-living pressures, pushing renters to look for smaller homes – demand for 2-bed flats has increased