Roland Millward Mortgage Broker

August – Interest Rate

Roland Millward — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:00:56 +0000

The Bank of England Monetary policy Committee have decided to hold the Bank of England base rate at 0.5%. This is good news for borrowers. The committee are concerned about the fragile state of the UK economy.

Hoorah – The End of HIPS

Roland Millward — Fri, 21 May 2010 22:05:15 +0000

The news that Home Information Packs (HIPS) have been suspended is good news for homeowners. We must feel sorry for those poor people who have spent thousands of pounds being trained as inspectors.

HIPS have really been useless as hardly anyone buying a home ever reads them!

Let’s hope that the end of HIPS will not mean they will be replaced with anything equally useless.

Mortgage Approvals rises in March

Roland Millward — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:18:16 +0000

March has seen an increase in the number of mortgages approved in the UK. The total number is 52,000 up from 48,000 in February. Indications are that First Time Buyers are looking to get onto the housing ladder but the tight restrictions imposed by lenders is still making life hard for them. There are more deals now available but lenders are still wanting large deposits to get the best deals and 10% minimum deposit for buyers. Someone therefore buying a home at £160,000 would need £16,000 deposit and would need to allow several thousands to cover costs and moving in expenses for a new home.

Stamp Duty and First time Buyers

Roland Millward — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:11:43 +0000

With stamp duty not being charged for first time buyers on properties up to £250,000 what happens if 2 people are buying a home and one of them is not a first time buyer and the other is? To avoid the stamp duty both must be first time buyers to qualify however there may be a way to avoid paying the duty. With the help of your mortgage lender and a good solicitor it may be possible to buy the house in the name of the first time buyer if the applicants income is sufficient to cover the mortgage or if the lender allows a guarantor to make up for the shortfall in income.

Your solicitor will then be able to create a declaration of trust that protects to the individual who is not on the deeds of the property so that their interest in the property is protected. There is a small additional cost for this legal work but the saving in stamp duty will be substantial.

Nationwide House Price Index March

Roland Millward — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:35:53 +0000

According to latest figures from Nationwide Building Society house prices in the UK rose 0.7% in March. This reverses the dip in February which was a fall of 0.8%. The annual house price increase now stands at 9%

Mortgage Approvals Down in February

Roland Millward — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:25:18 +0000

The latest figures from the Bank of England show that mortgage transactions are down in February. The number of mortgage approvals for February dropped to 47,100. This is 2% lower than January and 19% down on December. With stamp duty being scrapped for first time buyers on properties costing under £250,000 there may be some improvement to come but funding for first time buyers may negate much of the hoped for impact by the Government.

Good News for First Time Buyers and Stamp Duty

Roland Millward — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:03:55 +0000

The Chancellor has just announced that from midnight tonight first time buyers will not have to pay stamp duty on properties costing upto £250,000. This will save 1% of the purchase price for those that would have paid over £125,000 for a property. Therefore on a purchase of a property costing £150,000 a saving of £1,500 will be made. It’s a shame it is not for all homemovers as that really would have helped the housing market.

Building Societies – Set to Disappear?

Roland Millward — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:10:56 +0000

With various building societies struggling to survive this year would appear to be one where many will have to merge to survive. The mortgage market place will be all the worse for it as consumers will have less choice and competition. It is also very unlikely that more traditional building societies will be formed to replace them in the future. Many of these societies have been around for over 100 years and it is sad to see such institutions come to an end.

Countrywide say buyers dramatically increased

Roland Millward — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:10:53 +0000

The UK’s largest estate agency have revealed that the UK housing market is improving as buyers begin to return to the marketplace.

The figures are very encouraging as new buyer enquiries rose 81.7% in January 2010 when compared to December 2009. House sales increased by 20% in January when compared to the previous year. This increase in demand was fuelled by the ending of the lower Stamp Duty threshold and has proved to be a vital boost for the housing market.

Estate agents across the UK are hoping that this will continue through 2010.

Northern Rock Together Mortgages – Higher Repos

Roland Millward — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:43:30 +0000

Northern Rock has revealed that its controversial 125% Together mortgage now accounts for two thirds of its repossessions. Mr. Vince Cable of The Liberal Democrats used to warn that these mortgages were potentially dangerous to the banking industry and certainly with the amount of repossessions there are from this type of mortgage is proving true.

Northern Rock did not want to notice that if people could not raise a deposit or enough money for legal fees, furniture and whatever else when buying a home that they were a risky bet. A home bought for £100,000 meant that Northern Rock on their Together Mortgage would often lend £120,000. Of course if house prices were to continue to sky rocket some equity may have been gained but 25% was a lot to hope for particularly in the last year of the bubble when most sane people were realising that this could not go on indefinitely with or without the banking crisis.