I start this
week with some fantastic news! AToM’s Chairman and Founder (and my
father!) Victor Jannels, received an award for his ‘Outstanding Contribution’
to the mortgage industry last week. The British Specialist Lending Awards
ceremony was held at the spectacular London Waldorf Hotel and Vic was truly
surprised and delighted, thanking everyone for their kind support and
nominations. Well done VJ!
In
other news, the market is reported to be pretty flat currently, some estimating
the impact on April was as much as 25% lower in property transactions than
during March 2018.
With
this in mind, it’s good to see a number of lenders making changes to criteria
or launching new products to try and offset the downturn.
One
such lender, Kensington Mortgages has increased its loan to value (LTV) to 90%
of the property value up to £1m loans, including options for those who might
have had a credit blip previously. This also includes new build flats and
right to buy flats. For those with a 20% deposit, the loan can go as high
as £2m.
Staying
with Kensington Mortgages, they’ve also added Limited Company mortgages to
their Buy to Let options, up to 80% LTV, and offer a simpler process with
limited company investors only being assessed on the property portfolio of the
company. Terms and conditions apply!
Rates
have increased slightly though with Moneyfacts, the data provider, suggesting
that the average cost of a two year fixed rate has risen to a twelve month high
of 2.52%. Whilst five year fixes remain the most popular in recent
months, demand for shorter deals has been rising. Changing SWAP rates (the mechanism through which lenders can acquire a fixed
price for funding over a specific period of time) has seen a number of lenders reprice upwards over
the last week or so, and although not directly linked, this is despite the Bank
of England base rate remaining at 0.5%.
This should
encourage anyone considering reviewing their mortgage options in the not too distant
future, to possibly consider it sooner as the ‘rate hike’ hints keep
coming! Always seek advice!
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