First-Time Buyers £25,000 Worse Off Due To Stamp Duty Holiday

The stamp duty holiday has increased the price of first-time buyer homes by an average of 11.7% in England in the last year, and by as much as 31.5% in some areas of the country, according to research from GetAgent. The average price of a first-time buyer home in July 2020, just before the holiday was introduced, was £212,166. However, the latest figures show the average first-time buyer home now costs £236,982, an increase of £24,816 or 11.7%. On a broad regional level, the North West has seen the largest increase, with the average first-time buyer now paying £168,820 - a 16.9% jump since July of last year. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/finance-news/first-time-buyers-25000-worse-off-due-to-stamp-duty-holiday.html 

Number Of Sub-1% Mortgage Deals Rises To 86

The number of lenders offering sub-1% mortgage products has increased from just 1 in March to 12 by July, according to analysis by Trussle. Its data shows that there are now 86 deals with an interest rate of 0.9% or lower. Two-year fix rates are the most popular term type for sub-1% products, with 74% of leads coming from remortgage customers. Despite the growth in sub-1% products, just 2% of all enquiries to Trussle were for these types of mortgages in July. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/number-of-sub-1-mortgage-deals-rises-to-86.html 

Property Purchases Funded By Equity Release More Than Double In 2021

Over-55s keen to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday drove a 116% year-on-year increase in the number of people using equity release for property purchase, new research from more2life shows. The increase coincides with the introduction of the stamp duty holiday in July 2020 and highlights how over-55s are increasingly using equity release to help them move home – often to be close to family, friends or amenities. Property purchase cases increased by 208% between H1 2020 and H2 2020 and while this started to slow as the SDLT holiday deadline loomed. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/later-life/property-purchases-funded-by-equity-release-more-than-double-in-2021.html 

Number Of Mortgage Sales With 35+ Year Terms Up 70%

New Freedom of Information (FOI) data from the FCA gathered by Quilter has revealed a sharp increase in the number of mortgage sales with a term of 35+ years at the beginning of 2021. In March of this year, 25,112 mortgages were sold with a term of 35+ years, a 70% increase compared with 14,765 in March 2019. In March 2018 14,683 were sold. For three years prior, at no point did sales surpass 20,000. The same FOI request revealed that March 2021 also saw the highest total number of mortgage sales for the past three years, likely due to the original stamp duty holiday deadline of 31st March. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/number-of-mortgage-sales-with-35-year-terms-up-70.html

Mortgage Borrowing Hits Record High Of £17.9bn In June

Net mortgage borrowing reached a record high of £17.9 billion in June, just before the lower stamp duty rates began to taper off from July, according to the Bank of England. The previous record, in March 2021, was £11.5 billion, and borrowing has averaged £5.4 billion in the 12 months to May 2021. The Bank says its figures suggest there has been a shortening of time between a mortgage being approved and the lending itself, as there was no large rise in the number of mortgage approvals in recent months, unlike ahead of the strong net borrowing in March. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/mortgage-borrowing-hits-record-high-of-179bn-in-june-boe.html 

81% Of First-Time Buyers Rejected For A Mortgage Since Covid Outbreak

Only 19% of prospective first-time buyers were able to get a mortgage on the first attempt over the past 12 months, representing a huge change from the 48% that were able to pre-Covid-19. 38% were rejected for a mortgage once, whereas 43% say they were rejected for a mortgage more than once. This shows a significant shift from pre-Covid-19 when a third (36%) reported being rejected once and only 17% said they had been rejected more than once. The main reason for a rejected mortgage application was that the prospective buyer has poor credit history (41%), up from 19% in March 2020. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

81% of first-time buyers rejected for a mortgage since Covid outbreak | Financial Reporter 

Mortgage Approvals Hit 13-Year High In 2020

The total number of mortgage approvals in 2020 rose to the highest level seen since 2007, according to the latest Money and Credit statistics from the Bank of England. The data shows that the recent strength in approvals has more than offset the significant weakness earlier in the year. House purchase approvals – having troughed at a record low of 9,400 in May – totalled 818,500 in 2020, the largest number in one year since 2007. In December, the number of approvals was 103,400. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/mortgage-approvals-hit-13-year-high-in-2020-boe.html 

Demand Rises For First-Time Buyer BTL Mortgages

New data from Legal & General Mortgage Club has revealed growing demand among first-time buyers who want to enter the buy-to-let market. Searches through its SmartrCriteria tool show that the criteria search combination for first-time buyer, first-time landlord and non-owner occupier has seen an 18% increase since the beginning of September. Searches for these applicants with these circumstances ultimately rose from fourth to first place. The data also showed that ‘holiday lets’ was the second most searched term among advisers in September, moving from the top spot in August. Read more on the Finance Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/demand-rises-for-first-time-buyer-btl-mortgages.html 

Natwest Relaunches 85% LTV Mortgages

NatWest is reintroducing eight new 85% LTV products for purchase and remortgage. Two-year fixed rates start from 1.94% with a £995 fee and £250 cashback or 2.95% with no fee. Five-year fixed rates are available from 2.34% with a £995 fee and £250 cashback or 3.39% fee-free. NatWest says the 85% LTV products are being reintroduced initially through its direct channels, followed by the intermediary channel in the coming weeks. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/natwest-relaunches-85-ltv-mortgages.html

Johnson Announces 'Most Radical Planning Reforms Since WW2'

Boris Johnson has announced a new package of measures to build thousands of new homes as part of the government's Covid-19 recovery plan. New regulations will give greater freedom for buildings and land in town centres to change use without planning permission and create new homes from the regeneration of vacant and redundant buildings. Builders will no longer need a normal planning application to demolish and rebuild vacant and redundant residential and commercial buildings if they are rebuilt as homes. Included in the affordable homes programme will be a 1,500 unit pilot of ‘First Homes’: houses that will be sold to first time buyers at a 30% discount. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/finance-news/boris-johnson-announces-most-radical-planning-reforms-since-ww2.html

Government In Talks To Extend Help To Buy

The Government is reportedly considering extending the Help to Buy scheme beyond its current end-date of April 2021. The Government is in talks with The Home Builders Federation, whose members deliver around 80% of new homes built each year, about extending the scheme to help support the industry after Covid-19 lockdown measures are lifted. The shutdown of construction work and sales offices is expected to have a long-term impact on the sector, with Savills estimating that the lockdown will hinder the construction of around 200,000 new homes. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/government-in-talks-to-extend-help-to-buy.html

Housing Market Slows As Homemover Figures Slump

Valuations from home sellers have fallen steadily from 45% of the market in May 2010, down to just 27% in May 2017 as homeowners lack incentives to move, according to data from Connells Survey & Valuation. The research shows that a shortage of homes on the market, Stamp Duty impacts at higher levels and the extended economic uncertainty have discouraged homeowners. Conversely, remortgaging now represents 23% of all valuations – a 2 percentage point increase month-on-month and a record for May. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

CML Supports Launch Of New Social Housing Regulator

The Council of Mortgage Lenders says it supports a new regulator for the social housing sector, independent of the Homes and Communities Agency. The CML says "independent and effective regulation is crucial in safeguarding lender investment and in encouraging firms to continue to fund the sector. The proposal to separate the regulator from the HCA and establish it as a stand-alone non-departmental public body would be consistent with the principles of better regulation. The funding of social and affordable housing is becoming increasingly complex, which reinforces the case for a regulatory body that is clearly independent". Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

Number Of Homemovers Falls For First Time In Five Years

The number of people moving home has fallen for the first time in five years, according to Lloyds Bank research. The number of homemovers is estimated to have reached 354,000 in 2016 – down 4% from 2015 when homemover numbers totalled 367,300. This is the first annual decline since 2011, following four successive years of growth. Overall, the current number of homemovers has grown by 12% since the lowest point of the recent housing downturn in 2009 when the number of people moving home was 315,000, the second lowest since records began. However, the current figure remains 50% below the level of 712,000 a decade ago. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

Buyers Take Dim View of Two-Tier Housing Market

The lack of affordable housing in the UK has resulted in people taking a dim-view of their prospects of getting onto the property ladder. A survey of 2,000 UK adults who are looking to buy a home found that:

- 26% feel that ‘the UK is becoming a two-tier society of property haves and have nots’

- 23% said ‘I expect I will only be able to buy a home if I buy with someone else’

- Though 18% say that the government is responsible for the shortage of affordable homes, 14% think that buy-to-let landlords are to blame

- 17% don’t think that they will ever own their own home

- 12% said that ‘it angers me that I can’t afford to buy a house in the neighbourhood where I grew up’

- 10% think that the only way they’ll end up owning a property is if they’re left one in a will

Read more on the Financial Reporter website.