More mortgage completions were made by First Time Buyers during September than by home movers according to new data from UK Finance. The data shows that there were 50 more new first-time buyer mortgage completions in the month compared to home mover mortgages completed (29,100 versus 29,050), which themselves were increases of 1.6% and 1.8% respectively compared to the September 2018. Although the difference between first-time buyer and home mover mortgage completions was small, historically home mover mortgages have outnumbered first-time buyers. According to Moneyfacts.co.uk in 2015, there ..read more

The Bank of England has announced today that the base rate has been held at 0.75%.  This marks the tenth month in a row that the rate has remained the same, though the industry was caught by surprise at the news that two of the nine votes were against keeping the rate level.  This suggests that a move in the base rate may be in the not too distant future.  In September the decision to keep the rate at 0.75% was unanimous. In their previous meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee had said it expected rates to be kept low, with member Michael Saunders suggesting later that month that the next b ..read more

United Utilities will pay compensation of £30 for every 12 hours you don’t have running water and you can read below how to claim back compensation from United Utilities. This may sound like an odd way to start a blog post on a Mortgage site, so my apologies.  At Dan The Mortgage Man, a large section of our customer base is based in the North West. Lack of running water on the Wirral If you’re one of our customers that lives on the Wirral, you may have been affected by a lack of running water this weekend.  According to United Utilities: “The problem was caused by a burst pipe within the local ..read more

The Financial Conduct Authority has announced new rules which will allow lenders to assess affordability differently when looking at mortgages for mortgage prisoners. The new guidelines will let mortgage lenders use a more proportionate affordability assessment which is different to the rules currently used. What is a mortgage prisoner? A mortgage prisoner is someone who wants to remortgage but finds themselves trapped in their current mortgage deal. Read more about mortgage prisoners here. Am I a mortgage prisoner or can I get a standard remortgage? The main difference between whether someone ..read more

The latest figures from UK Finance reveal that remortgage approval rates were up by 23.4% in September 2019.  This is in comparison to September 2018. There were almost 86,000 mortgages approved by the main high street banks last month. General Election Homeownership will be at the forefront of a lot of minds with a potential general election being proposed.  Fortunately, these figures show that there are still lots of lenders out there willing to underwrite mortgages. It’s a very encouraging sign for buyers and existing mortgage holders alike!. It also goes to prove that despite worries about ..read more

Brexit feels like it has dragged on forever and the one topic everyone seems to ask me is about is buying during Brexit. Whether it’s an existing homeowner looking to remortgage or move home, or a First Time Buyer, the answer is never simple.  Everyone would like more certainty when deciding what to do with their mortgage.  Unfortunately, if three Prime Ministers in three years tells us anything, it’s that there is no such thing as certainty around Brexit. However, the mortgage market doesn’t show signs of slowing down. Recent figures from UK Finance show that over 14,000 more mortgages were a ..read more

Getting a single parent mortgage Being a single parent isn’t easy. Having to balance work and home whilst bringing up the kids single-handedly can be daunting in itself.  When you start to consider getting a mortgage as a single parent, it can be hard to know where to begin. Use your benefits to your advantage Mortgage lenders often use income as the starting point in deciding what they will allow you to borrow.  As a lone parent, income can often be low. The good news is that there are lenders out there who will take into account several streams of income. So if you only have one main income ..read more

I never thought I’d be writing and performing stand-up comedy for Wirral Mencap.  In fact, a few years back thr thought of doing anything like that terrified me.  Yet that’s exactly what I’ve just done. Picture the scene: Mid-June 2019. The heatwave of 2018 is long forgotten. It’s raining. Boy racers speeding down the strip at New Brighton have been replaced by soggier boy racers aqua-planing down the same stretch. A Southerner sits proudly amongst a group of Northern businessmen and women at a networking event. “There are no boy racers on the Wirral!” he’s told. “Shush!”, he replies, “it’s ru ..read more

Sainsburys Bank today announced that they were to immediately stop new mortgage sales which they currently offer under their Sainsbury’s Mortgage banner. In a Q2 trading statement, the Bank revealed the news as part of a five-year plan which will also see 55 branches close. The news comes just a few months after Tesco Bank announced they were stopping mortgage lending. David Buxton, Head of Banking at Sainsbury’s, said: “I am writing this morning to advise that, following a strategic review of Sainsbury’s Bank, we have taken the decision to withdraw from the mortgage market. This means that, w ..read more

Tesco Bank have confirmed that they will be selling their mortgage portfolio to Halifax. A few months ago Tesco Bank announced that they were stopping new mortgage lending. After a thorough process, they have agreed to sell their mortgage book to Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group. The High Street lender’s purchase of Tesco Bank’s book of more than 23,000 mortgages for £3.8bn was revealed this week. The portfolio has a lending balance of £3.7bn and generated pre-tax profit of £9.1m in 2018-19. The deal will put the Tesco Bank mortgage customers under the Halifax brand. In news that will be ..read more