Volumes on the up!

The mortgage market is incredibly busy and frantic with activity.  This can only be welcoming news as we all thrive on a competitive market which provides the end consumer with a great choice of products and great mortgage rates!

A huge thank you to all who have let AToM take care of their mortgage requirements over the last few months.  April was our best month for new business and also completions for over four years!  So thank you again, we really do appreciate it.  In fact, levels have been so constant that we are now looking to recruit, so do please review our careers page on our website if this might be of interest.  Plug over!

With the increased volumes of business, we are seeing an increase in the range of property types.  The government are obviously promoting new build properties and you can’t miss the amount of building works taking shape around the Horsham area.  However, on a smaller scale, many run down or derelict houses are being snapped up and converted in to more modern dwellings, or split in to a number of properties.   We are seeing a big demand for mortgages on houses that have been converted in to a number of flats and this is also true for old pubs and offices.  Beware though that some lenders treat these as newbuild and new build flats are of a limited appetite to some lenders in the current climates.

Others are converting outbuildings in to guest or ‘granny flats’ or building annexes on to the side of existing properties.  Both these and the converted flats will be subject to the valuers comments when they visit the property and can be subject to the relevant leaseholds being in place. 

Where two properties are on one title and not split in to separate titles, be advised that these may not be acceptable to many lenders and you will need to seek a specialist lender.

Holiday homes are also on the increase.  Where these are in the UK, lenders will help, but in most cases they must be restriction free.  Some have restrictions such as ‘can only be sold to people living in the area’ or ‘can only be let out 11 months of the year’.   For those looking to purchase properties abroad be aware that although rates are pretty low throughout Europe, deposits required can be quite substantial.