Mortgage
Four Ways to Pay Your Mortgage Off Faster
Ask anybody and they’ll tell you that owning a property is incredibly important. However, most people spend tens of thousands of pounds on mortgage interest payments, which is money that could be saved for something useful or exciting. This article will discuss what you need to pay your mortgage faster. With four tips to help […]
Posted in Mortgage
What Will Happen To Mortgage Rates In The Next Five Years?
Inflation has continued to spike in the past decade, but in May 2024, the Bank of England achieved their goal of reducing it to 2%. These new levels will have implications for interest rates, which affect everything from your savings to your everyday costs, and of course, your mortgage. This article will explore the changes […]
Posted in Mortgage
Trend Towards Long-term Mortgages Could Hit Retirement Income
A recent freedom of information request to the Bank of England has revealed a worrying increase in the number of homeowners who will still be repaying their mortgages in retirement. Even though homeowners will have a significant asset on their hands once their mortgage has been repaid, very few today would have been planning to […]
Posted in Mortgage, Pensions, Retirement Planning
Why Are US Style 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages Not Commonplace in the UK?
The US and UK mortgage markets are well-developed but vary significantly. For example, US mortgage funding in 2021 hit $4.4 trillion, while UK mortgage funding was just over £315 billion. So even though both markets are incredibly liquid, they each have different characteristics. Full-term fixed-rate mortgages are more prevalent in the US, while the UK […]
Posted in Mortgage
Mortgage Pressures Linked To Increasing Mental Health Issues
In light of the US subprime mortgage market crash of 2008/9, UK base rates fell to historic lows before beginning a relatively steep upturn and (hopefully) peaking at 5.25%. Consequently, the last 15 years have seen rates that do not reflect historical averages. To put this into perspective, between 1971 and 2023, UK base rates […]
Posted in Mortgage
Baby Boomer Generation: The Pros and Cons of Equity Release
While potentially struggling to cover general living expenses, many of the so-called baby boomers may have paid off their mortgage and find themselves sitting on a relatively valuable asset, their home. Consequently, there has been growing interest in equity release, but there are several pros and cons to consider before taking action. Two types […]
Posted in Financial Planning, Mortgage
What Are The Main Factors Which Will Impact House Prices In 2024?
The fact there is no real consensus on forecast house price movements in 2024 reflects the uncertain outlook for the UK. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) believes UK house prices will fall by 4.7% in 2024. Interestingly, Savill’s is forecasting a fall of 3% across the UK and 4% in London, broadly in line […]
Posted in Financial Planning, Investments, Mortgage
How Long Should You Fix Your Mortgage Rate?
The UK has one of the more developed mortgage markets, providing a wide range of options, whether acquiring your first home or looking to refinance an existing mortgage. When it comes to the duration of your mortgage, it often comes down to one factor, the level of certainty you require and the amount of risk […]
Posted in Mortgage
Is Now The Right Time To Remortgage?
In reality, the only certainty with regards to interest rates and mortgage rates are the rates today, everything else is just conjecture. Looking back at December 2021, when interest rates began to rise from a historic low of 0.1%, who could have forecast such a meteoric rise? The decision not to increase rates in September […]
Posted in Mortgage
How Can The Mortgage Charter Help You?
It is easy to forget that UK base rates were 0.1% between March 2020 and December 2021, allowing many people to refinance their mortgages at historic low rates. Fast forward to August 2023, and the base rate now stands at 5.25%, with mortgage rates having jumped dramatically since December 2021. In conjunction with the cost […]
Posted in Mortgage