Aberdeen is the cheapest city for first-time buyer properties with an average asking price of £102,601, according to Rightmove. Analysis by the website does not account for regional variations in earnings, but looks at average asking prices on properties with two bedrooms or fewer, which are commonly bought by first-time buyers. It found that average mortgage payments for first-time buyers in Aberdeen would be £406 per month, assuming a 20% deposit and a term of 35 years. Bradford is the second cheapest city to be a first-time buyer, with an average asking price of £107,929, and Sunderland is ..read more

Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill warns there are “greater risks” from cutting the base rate too early rather than too late. Interest rates are now at a 16-year high of 5.25% in an effort to reduce inflation, which fell to 3.2% in March, compared to 11.1% in October 2022. The Bank’s inflation target is 2%. But the Monetary Policy Committee member points out that this fall is due to the current “restrictive stance of monetary policy”. Pill, who voted to hold rates at the committee’s February and March meetings, says: “The MPC needs to ensure sufficient restrictiveness to achieve the 2% i ..read more

Virgin Money is increasing rates on a number of products and launching several buy-to-let product transfer deals. The new products launch tomorrow while the rate increases will take place at 8pm today. In an email to brokers, Virgin says that selected product transfer and remortgage products will go up by 10 basis points. A range of other deals will go up by lesser amounts. The lender’s new buy-to-let product transfer deals start from 4.61% for a five-year fixed at 60% LTV with a £3,995 fee. Its new trackers for buy-to-let product transfers are from 5.79% with a £1,995 fee at 60% LTV. The news ..read more

Nottingham Building Society has appointed Maxine Davenport as head of underwriting. Davenport has over 20 years of experience in mortgage underwriting, product lifecycle management and operational risk environments and was most recently product and business manager at Aldermore Bank. Prior to her time at Aldermore, she worked in underwriting at the Co-operative Bank. In her new role at the Nottingham, the lender says Davenport will play a pivotal role in advancing its mortgage transformation agenda and enhancing its specialist lending capabilities to better serve the evolving needs of customer ..read more

Almost two-thirds of brokers expect adviser numbers to fall next year as those leaving the sector are not replaced, a new survey suggests. The poll of 350 appointed representatives of Primis network carried out in March found that while 62% thought broker numbers would shrink, 37% a were more positive, believing numbers would increase. Advisers based in the north of England were marginally less optimistic about the size of the intermediary sector next year than those in the south. Primis sales director Claire Madge says the regional variation was likely a reflection of demand and typical wealt ..read more

Twenty7tec has updated its Source software to make its affordability tool more accurate for borrowers with complex circumstances. Advisers will now be able to include more detailed information about their clients, including those with self-employed or contractor income. The tech firm says this will enable brokers to retrieve more accurate information on the maximum loan size available from different lenders. Twenty7Tec director Nathan Reillysays: “We’ve been working on this update for some time, as we appreciate that affordability has become an increasingly complex matter and one that has inte ..read more

Mortgage Advice Bureau has appointed Emilie McCarthy as chief financial officer starting next month. McCarthy takes up the role on May 22 with over 20 years’ experience in finance, risk management and operations in the UK and US. She replaces current CFO Lucy Tilley whose departure for asset manager Pollen Street was announced in January. McCarthy joins from Hult International Business School where she was also CFO. Prior to this she held the same position at CNBC International. MAB has also appointed Rachel Haworth as independent non-executive director of the Company, starting on May 1. Hawor ..read more

Looking back at some of the commentary and news analysis in Mortgage Strategy from mid- to late 2023, there was no shortage of gloom. Back in June, one headline read, ‘More BoE pain, but little gain’, as the industry’s confidence in Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey hit rock bottom. At the time, rate rises had not had the desired effect of lowering inflation, merely inflicting further pain on borrowers. Fast-forward to early April 2024 and the outlook is brighter. Inflation has come down and, while the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has held rather than lowered the base rate, the committ ..read more

London rental demand was down by 14% in March compared to a year ago, but was up by 9% month-on-month, according to the latest lettings index from Foxtons. There were 14 new tenants registering for every property instruction in March, up slightly from February but down from 17 a year ago. On the supply side, new property instructions from landlords rose in January and February and cooled in March, but for the first quarter as a whole this resulted in a 15% year-on-year increase. South London had the highest demand of any region in the capital, with nearly 17,000 applicants, which was 18% highe ..read more

Inheritance tax receipts in the year to March hit 7.5bn, a fresh record and more than £400m higher than 12 months ago. The figure tops last year’s £7.1bn all-time for the tax, according to HM Revenue & Customs. The thresholds of this tax have been frozen since 2009 and are not due to be reviewed until April 2028, while property prices have risen. Inheritance tax is set at 40% once the assets of an estate top £325,000. Some forecasts say inheritance tax receipts could top £9.5bn before the end of the decade. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has faced repeated calls to abolish the tax from Conservativ ..read more