Some Lenders reduce income multiples

Quite a few rates have been increased over the last ten days and some further criteria restrictions implemented.   In quite a significant move, Nationwide has limited their overall income multiples to a max of 4.75% times income for all residential loans.  This follows recent guidelines from the Bank of England allowing only 15% of all new lending to be over 4.5 x income from October.   Other movers include Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland who both implemented a maximum 4.5 x income for all loans over £500k.  Rumours are rife that others will follow and I'm sure these will be revealed in the coming weeks.

First Time Buyers rose 27% in the first half of 2014 according to LSL property services.  More than 146,000 bought a property compared to 115,700 in the same period last year, with deposits on average, around £24k.

However, remortgage approvals have not followed the same trend, surprisingly.  The British Bankers Association have reported that June 2014 figures were some 12% down on June 2013, amounting to 18,645 transactions worth £2.8bn.  This does surprise me as rates are low, there are some good long term fixed rates around and the majority of lenders are offering minimal or no costs to move to them.   

Finally, and I don't 'plug' often(!) at AToM, we are independent and we will happily go through the pros and cons of changing any of your financial details before proceeding to conduct any credit searches or decision in principles. You need to be clear that it’s the right deal for you. If your current deal is still the best option for you, we will suggest you stay where you are.  Whilst the holiday period is up on us, do take time to dig out that paperwork and come and have a chat.  It could be a very beneficial exercise!