Homeowners wanting to take advantage of tumbling mortgage rates are being warned to look out for high fees attached to them. It follows news that the Co-op is launching a two-year fixed mortgage at 1.09%, said to be the lowest rate ever. Two weeks ago HSBC announced a five-year fix at a record low of 1.99%. But experts say borrowers need to look closely at the fees involved, and the rates people will be charged when the fixed-rate period is […]
The home buying process for first time buyers
How do you buy a property? If you’ve never done it before the process can be daunting. Buying a home means a lot of paperwork, procedures and different people getting involved. Understanding roughly who does what and when before you start can make it less stressful. These are the basic steps to becoming a home owner in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Do your homework Buying a house is a massive investment and getting it just slightly wrong can be […]
Cash buyers and first time buyers dominating UK property sales market
Cash buyers and first time buyers in the UK are more active than any other buyer groups and are driving growth in both housing market transactions and prices, new research shows. The fact that number of cash buyers grew by 33% and the number of first time buyers with a mortgage grew by 23% means that fewer homes are coming onto the market, increasing supply demand anomalies, according to residential agents Hamptons International. It points out that in 2013 some […]
UK house sales set to keep on rising, banks say
The UK’s property market is likely to keep on growing strongly, mortgage lending figures suggest. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) said total mortgage lending by its members was 38% higher in January than a year ago. The number of mortgages for home buyers which were approved, but not yet lent, was up 57% on a year earlier. The BBA said the revival in activity had been helped particularly by the government’s Help to Buy scheme. “Mortgage borrowing continues to rise […]
UK property sales continue to pick up, says HMRC
UK property sales were 19% higher in March than the same month a year ago as buyers continued to return to the market, figures show. There were 94,080 transactions in the UK, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which also signalled a steady rise in sales during the year so far. Transactions increased in England, Scotland and Wales compared with February. The first months of the year are generally a slow period for sales. However, the seasonally-adjusted data published […]