Mortgages news roundup
As each day passes, we are seeing more and more headlines relating to increasing mortgage interest rates.To help you get down to the brass tax, we have taken each news article from the past few weeks and filtered out all the important information and put it in one place for you.
Looking for a Mortgage? It’s time to get a move on
This was the headline in the Guardian on April 16th and here’s what they had to say:
“Homebuyers and those looking to remortgage were this week being urged to act fast if they want to lock in a competitive home loan deal.”
The article focuses on the fact that many banks and building societies have been either pulling their mortgage deals or repricing them higher. This has been happening at very short-notice and here at Prospect Tree Mortgages, we have been pulling late nights just to ensure applications are made before rates expire.
One of our Business Development managers at Santander warned recently that whilst the deal in question was supposed to be live until the end of the week, we should get the application in immediately in case it is pulled earlier.
This is just one example of many!
Eleanor Williams at Moneyfacts said:
“Those hoping to secure a new mortgage may wish to act sooner rather than later.”
What Now for UK Mortgage Rates?
Forbes look at the current situation and offer examples of what interest rate rises could mean for UK homeowners.
They cited that the Bank of England’s March increase to the base rate could add on around £300 a year to a 2.25% variable rate mortgage deal of £200,000.
Going on to explain that the next date which the Bank will discuss interest rates is approaching soon on May 5th.
Given this fact, many homeowners are opting for longer-term fixed mortgages than usual, and some lenders are even offering lower rates on their 5-year deals than on their 2-year deals.
We can confirm that this is definitely a trend which we are starting to see. Lenders offering lower interest for their longer term fixed-rates could indicate a few things.
Either that they do not see huge increases to interest rates in the near future, or they are under increased pressure to reduce the risk on their applications by encouraging borrowers to fix for longer. It could be a bit of both! However the next article from Bloomberg adds more weight to the argument that the banks are feeling the pressure.
UK Banks Plan Sharp Cut in Mortgage Lending, BOE Survey Finds
Bloomberg have identified that lenders plan to reduce the supply of mortgages at the fastest rate since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
This news came after a Bank of England survey was carried out and banks have warned that they expect to see a rise in mortgage defaults over the coming 3 months.
Of course, information such as this cannot be ignored, especially considering mortgage defaults from sub-prime products fuelled the last major economic turn-down in 2007.
What should you do?
What you do with this information heavily depends on your own situation. If you fall under the following, we would highly recommend getting in touch:
- You have been planning home improvements, funded by your mortgage
- Your current deal is due to end within the next 6-months
- Your current fixed-rate has ended and you are on the SVR (standard variable rate)
- You are looking to buy a property and haven’t recently updated your mortgage requirements
We would also recommend getting in touch if you are anxious about mortgage rates, at the very least we can discuss your future options and ensure you feel that you are in control of your mortgage finances.
How to get in touch?
Check out what our Professional Sport clients had to say about our service HERE
0800 8620 840