Monday 16th December 2019 – Open as usual
Tuesday 17th December 2019 – Open as usual
Wednesday 18th December 2019 – Open as usual
Thursday 19th December 2019 – Open as usual
Friday 20th December 2019 – Open as usual
Saturday 21st December 2019 – Closed
Monday 23rd December 2019 – Open as usual
Tuesday 24th December 2019 – Business will close at 1pm
Wednesday 25th December 2019 – Closed
Thursday 26th December 2019 – Closed
Friday 27th December 2019 – Open as usual
Saturday 28th December 2019 – Open as usual
Monday 30th December 2019 – Open as usual
Tuesday 31st December 2019 – Business will close at 5pm
Wednesday 1st January 2020 – Closed
Thursday 2nd January 2020 – Open as usual
A record year for new homes constructed in England is driving increased interest in new build mortgages as the year-end approaches and developers look to meet sales targets, according to Precise Mortgages, the UK’s leading specialist lender*.
New government figures show 241,130 homes were built in England in 2018/19 – the highest number for 30 years. The Home Builders Federation reported an additional 380,000 new homes were due to be built and the major political parties are committed to supporting further expansion in housebuilding**.
Precise Mortgages is highlighting the need for an efficient and flexible approach from lenders in the run-up to builders’ year-end. Its extensive product offering is backed up by a New Build Priority Processing Team which is dedicated to assessing cases within 48 hours and making an offer within 21 days, as well as providing support and regular progress updates.
The lender is committed to helping customers with complex borrowing needs, such as self-employed customers with one year’s figures and those with less than perfect credit histories, including CCJs, defaults, DMPs and secured/unsecured loan arrears.
Group Managing Director Alan Cleary said: “December can be a good time for customers to negotiate the best price on a property as many developers are looking to meet key targets ahead of the end of the year.
“We’ve just recorded our most successful year for new build in terms of applications and completions. I believe this is down to a number of factors, including our intimate understanding of the market, getting to really know our intermediary partners and developers, our range of products and a commitment to delivering a service which delivers exactly what customers need.”
The lender has also extended its Help to Buy offering to Scotland in recent months, as well as launching a range of Help to Buy remortgages, including an option which allows customers to remortgage and capital raise to repay part of their original equity loan, to help early adopters of the scheme make the transition to becoming established homeowners.
* Source: BVA BDRC Project Mercury Report Q3 2019
** Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/nov/14/house-building-in-england-at-30-year-high-government-data-show
Alan Cleary - Group Managing Director
It seems the days of people retiring at 65 and enjoying their golden years mortgage-free are becoming an increasingly distant dream for many people.
Paying off the mortgage by the time they’re 65 has been the financial goal for generations of homeowners, but recent research from Hargreaves Lansdown has found that nearly 16% of householders now say they will either be aged over 65 by the time they pay off their mortgage or will never clear their loan. This comes after the FCA predicted earlier this year in its annual Sector Views report that 40% of borrowers who took out a mortgage in 2017 will be aged over 65 when their mortgage matures.
So why has paying off a mortgage by the time people reach 65 becoming more uncommon? Well, for starters the average UK property now costs nearly £235,000, meaning aspiring homeowners have to save for a large deposit, while wage increases are failing to keep up with rising living costs.
It means that we’ve got a growing generation of people who are unable to get a mortgage until later in life. In fact, according to the Office of National Statistics, the average age of a first-time buyer has risen by almost 10 years since 1997. More than half of home buyers are now aged 34 or older, compared to just 26 in 1997. And as they’re buying later, they’re looking to purchase bigger and more family-friendly, but ultimately more expensive, properties.
So it’s no surprise to read that many of these buyers are now looking to take out products offering mortgage terms that run beyond the historic 25 year standard term to spread the cost of their repayments. Moneyfacts reports that longer-term mortgages are increasingly becoming the norm, with around 57% of residential mortgages now coming with a 40 year term.
And it’s not just younger borrowers who need mortgages; the number of older people looking for a mortgage is on the rise too. People are working for longer so the later life lending market (borrowers aged 55 and over) is becoming an increasingly important part of the sector. UK Finance figures show the sector grew by nearly 14% last year, with more demand from older borrowers for residential mortgages and equity release products.
There are a myriad of reasons why people are working for longer – to keep active, maintain social connections, supplement their incomes or top up their pensions. Whatever the reason, these changing demographics aren’t just having an effect in the workplace, they’re also causing changes in the lending market.
It’s always good to see lenders adapting to customers’ changing needs, but what about those borrowers who are struggling to get the mortgage they need on the high street, for example younger borrowers who might have less than perfect credit profiles or older borrowers with complex incomes?
This is where specialist lenders come into their own. Specialist lenders offer a bespoke service which take their individual circumstances into account.
Here at Precise Mortgages we judge every case we receive on its own merits, taking each customer’s unique circumstances into account. Customers can access residential mortgages between 5 and 35 years, with a maximum age of 70 at the end of the term. We’ll even consider customers aged up to 75, subject to underwriter review and stated retirement date.
It’s clear that the market is evolving. With people borrowing later and working for longer, it’s crucial that lenders keep innovating to adjust to customers’ ever-changing needs and ensure they can get the mortgage they need, whether they’re first-time buyers or later life borrowers.
With more than 220,000 properties purchased and nearly £12.5bn lent in equity loans since the launch of the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme in 2013*, there are now a growing number of borrowers who are likely to need the support of a financial intermediary.
As interest becomes payable on the government equity loan after the initial five-year interest free period ends, and, in many cases, with borrowers seeing their initial mortgage rate come to an end, Precise Mortgages has enhanced its Help to Buy proposition and now offers homeowners the option to remortgage and capital raise to repay part of their original Help to Buy Equity Loan.
The enhancement is part of the lender’s wider Help to Buy proposition which now gives customers the option to purchase, choose a pound-for-pound remortgage, capital raise to repay part of the equity loan or fully repay their loan.
With a dedicated service proposition, the specialist lenders’ Help to Buy products support customers underserved by the high street, including those with less than perfect credit histories. As Help to Buy capital raising will be new to many intermediaries, they’ve produced a comprehensive guide to remortgaging and capital raising for Help to Buy which can be downloaded from their website.
Group Managing Director for Precise Mortgages Alan Cleary said: “The Help to Buy scheme has been a huge success since its launch in 2013, helping hundreds of thousands of aspiring homeowners take their first step onto the property ladder.
“Our new simple and straightforward capital raising option could help these customers by allowing them to remortgage and repay part of the Equity Loan which will become payable after the initial five-year interest free period ends.”
Source: * https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-statistics-april-2013-to-31-march-2019-england
Alan Cleary - Managing Director at Precise Mortgages
Whether buying a new home or remortgaging to a better deal, the decision about how long to fix a mortgage rate for is one of the most important decisions a homeowner will make.
Are they after the flexibility and lower rates that shorter-term deals can offer? Or are they looking for the security and peace of mind that comes with a longer-term product?
Whichever term product they decide to go for, they’ve probably never had as much choice when it comes to making their decision as they do at the moment.
According to recent research by Moneyfacts, there are now more than 1,500 five-year deals on the market, almost double the amount that there were five years ago. This increase is across every LTV tier and means the split between two and five-year fixed rates is virtually identical, meaning borrowers now have a much wider range of terms when locking in.
And borrowers aren’t just benefiting from choice in the products they can select – they’re also benefiting from some of the lowest rates in recent times. With falling SWAP rates and fierce competition between lenders to attract new borrowers and ensure existing ones don’t drift away to other lenders, rates for five-year products are now almost as cheap as two-year deals, with the gap closing to the narrowest margin since 2012, the Moneyfacts data shows.
Not surprisingly, the choice in longer-term mortgages at competitive prices has resulted in a growth in popularity as customers look to safeguard their rates in a time of uncertainty. Borrowers who traditionally might have preferred a shorter-term commitment may now be looking beyond just interest rate, and instead preferring the stability of a longer-term deal to protect them against any future economic or political changes.
Here at Precise Mortgages we’re always alive to changes in the market. Whether your customer is planning to purchase or remortgage, is self-employed, a first time buyer or looking to buy a new build property, our residential range of mortgages is designed to help them make the move.
We’ve just launched our autumn special range of mortgages which features five-year products for customers who want to lock themselves in to a longer-term product. We calculate affordability according to the repayment method selected, including interest only, part-and-part, and capital and interest options, and we don’t apply a stress test for borrowers. All of our residential mortgages are tiered to meet individual credit histories which means that customers with less than perfect profiles don’t need to miss out on securing the term product they need.
Whatever your customer’s motivation, whether they want to move to a new product, escape from their existing lender’s reversion rate, unlock equity in their property or are nearing the end of their term, now’s a great time to be looking for a mortgage, particularly if they’re after a longer-term product.
