Mortgages

With help-to-buy ISAs being phased out on 30th November 2019, many people are considering transferring their funds into a Lifetime ISA. You’ll still be able to access existing help-to-buy accounts until 30th November 2029, but it’s worth knowing which option is right for you. Help-to-buy ISAs have been around since before the Lifetime ISA was intro...

There’s been a lot of talk in the press recently about generational inequality, which has mostly been with good reason. Those currently in their twenties and thirties are earning far less than people the same age did 10 to 15 years ago. The 2008 recession has put the millennial cohort far behind in terms of earnings and wages. Wages have never full...

The choice of whether or not to release equity from your home ultimately rests with you. However, the decision will have wide reaching consequences for your family. It’s sensible, before releasing equity, to see a financial adviser who will explain the ramifications.There are two main forms of equity release – lifetime mortgages and home reversion...

A flexible ISA allows the saver to withdraw cash and replace it during the same tax year without reducing the current year’s allowance. They can also withdraw cash from previous tax years. Withdrawals can be made from a cash ISA or any cash held in a stocks and shares or Innovative Finance ISA (including from the sale of investments) provided the I...

It’s not difficult to see why Briton’s find buying a property abroad so attractive. High house prices, a temperamental climate and long working hours in the UK can make buying a property abroad seem like a highly desirable option. Whether for a holiday property or somewhere to live long term, here are our top places to buy a home abroad in 2018. Sp...

Since the Brexit vote, ‘staycations’ have become increasingly popular. This is unsurprising – for many people, going to the bureau de change has become an uncomfortable experience of seeing their hard-earned pounds transformed into a pitiful equivalent of euros or US dollars. Recently, VisitBritain announced that there has been a 5.8% rise in domes...

While people may be experiencing difficulties in selling their houses, the flip side for those buying a property is that house prices haven’t been rising. This is good news for first time buyers in particular. According to the Halifax, the UK’s largest mortgage lender, in the year leading up to June 2018, house prices rose at their slowest pace sin...

L&G are still expecting more than a quarter of home buyers to be getting financial assistance from relatives, with the amount actually seeing a small increase from 25% to 27%. So with close to 317,000 housing transactions expected to take place with parental help this year, how do we account for the £800m drop in lending? The short answer is th...

It’s one of the scary things about growing old, isn’t it? We’re all living longer, thanks to medical science but does that mean more of us are going to end up in a care home, struggling to find the means to pay for it? A year in a care home can cost more than £50,000. This means some families are accumulating huge bills. If you have assets of more...

If your family has grown up and flown the nest and you’re moving closer to retiring, it’s likely that you’ve at least thought about downsizing your home. For some it can be for practical reasons, for others it might be a desire to be closer to their children if they’ve relocated, for others still it might simply be the desire for a change of scener...

As you may be aware new tax rules are being phased in in regard to the taxation of Buy To Let Properties over the next few years. These changes will effect Landlords who have Mortgages on their rental properties and whose combined income including that of their BTL rental income, takes them above the 40% tax threshold. For some this could be a cons...

Launched in December 2015, the scheme offers a maximum bonus of £3,000 from the government to those buying a home. It allows first time buyers to boost up to £12,000 of their savings by 25% when they buy a property for £250,000 or less, raised to a limit of £450,000 for those buying in London. The scheme remains open to new savers until the end of...

Talking about money with your parents can be difficult. However, these conversations can also be some of the most important ones you will have with those you love. It doesn’t need to be a full examination of their financial records, as you clearly don’t want to overstep any boundaries or cause offence. But there are also questions you need to ask t...

Research into the housing market throughout 2017 has revealed the areas of the UK where property prices increased and decreased the most last year. Cheltenham in Gloucestershire was the place where prices grew at the fastest pace, with the average price of £313,150 marking a 13% rise – nearly five times the UK average increase of 2.7%. At the other...

It’s a troubling norm of today’s society that most people will have heard a horror story about property fraud from a family member, a colleague from work or simply reading online. Importantly, these stories need to be kept in perspective: remember, the tales of properties being rented and sold without any noteworthy problems are the ones people usu...

If you’re saving for a home through a Help To Buy ISA or know someone who is, it’s worth being aware of a planning opportunity which could boost your savings by an additional £1,100. But anyone hoping to take advantage of this opportunity needs to be quick, as it will only be available for just under four months more. Any savings in a Help To Buy I...

Retirement is undoubtedly the section of your life which receives the largest amount of planning for most people, with much of your working life spent ensuring you can live where and how you want once you’ve retired. However, as with all plans, there are always going to be aspects of your retirement which don’t end up quite how you’d expected, and...

Recent official figures have revealed that homebuyers are being lent more money by banks than at any time since the global financial crisis a decade ago, with many of the borrowers being young people for whom stepping onto the property ladder is barely affordable. As such, billions of pounds of debt which may prove unsafe is being taken on by them...

Offset Mortgages were the belle of the lending ball ten or so years ago. Innovative products from lenders like First Active and Intelligent finance were heralded as the future of Mortgage repayment. So why has the marketing stopped? It could be argued that as interest rates declined the benefit of the offset minimised. Also the true current account...

However, Chris Reining, an American self-made millionaire who retired at 37, has recently described purchasing a house in his mid-twenties as ‘probably the worst financial decision’ he has made in his life. Reining bought a $200,000 house in Madison, Wisconsin, paying a deposit of $40,000, but now says that, thanks to not making the right financial...

A proposal to free up properties in Paris was approved at the beginning of July 2017 and could result in a major increase in council tax payments for UK residents with second homes in the French capital. The changes would result in an average payment increase of over €2,000 (around £1,750), a hike surely likely to prompt some to think about selling...

A recent study has found that the average deposit first-time buyers need to pay on a home has now risen to nearly £33,000. This is thanks to the average price of a first home now climbing to a record figure of £207,693. The Halifax First-Time Buyer Review discovered that almost half (47%) of all house purchases with a mortgage made during the first...

Recent figures have shown that house prices in the UK fell again in May this year, making it the third month in a row which has seen prices go down. Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society which carried out the research, stated that this is the first time house prices have fallen in three consecutive months since 2009. Following the drop of 0...

Whilst the country takes in the latest developments in the ongoing saga that is contemporary British politics, one question that many will be looking for answers to, is how the result of the general election is likely to affect them financially. It’s inevitable that savings and shares will be impacted upon in some way by Theresa May’s failure to co...

The current projected figures for 2017 see inflation set to grow by between 2.5% and 3%, but there are already reports surfacing that this figure is misleading, with most families set to experience much higher increases than this, thanks to the ‘real rate of inflation’. But what does that actually mean and why is the real rate so different to the p...

Recent figures suggest that house prices are set to slow during 2017. Property prices grew by 5.7% in the year to the end of January, slower than the annual growth of 6.5% in the previous month. In January, the average UK home was valued at £220,260. Whilst prices in the three months to the end of January were higher than in the previous three mont...

The housing market is set for a slow start in the new year due to a shortage of homes for sale, according to a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Although property transactions may increase at the beginning of 2017 after slowing since the spring, the survey suggests that any acceleration is likely to be modest at best. The...

Downsizing during your retirement years is something many people consider. Moving to a smaller property can cut down on maintenance and utility costs and if your new home is cheaper than your current property, you can even raise some cash to save or spend as you like. However, if you’re relocating to a more expensive area then you may need to take...

The popularity of investing in property to fund retirement remains prevalent, in spite of the government’s attempts to make buy-to-let less and less attractive. But is buy-to-let investment really a viable alternative to a pension pot, for example? A recent study has investigated the numbers behind each option. The research looked at how £100,000 w...

A major goal for many during their retirement will be to enjoy their home after finishing paying off their mortgage. Depending on when you purchased your house however, and with house prices seeing a rise of 30% in the past decade, owning outright is becoming more difficult to achieve for some. Renting during retirement is therefore becoming more a...

The popularity of investing in property to fund retirement remains prevalent, in spite of the government’s attempts to make buy-to-let less and less attractive. But is buy-to-let investment really a viable alternative to a pension pot, for example? A recent study has investigated the numbers behind each option. The research looked at how £100,000 w...

Mortgage advice might not be for everyone, but for those clients who seek it out it can be an invaluable service in helping them to strike a better deal than they could have achieved on their own. The role of a mortgage adviser is to work with a buyer in order to find them the best option for their circumstances. The main way in which a mortgage ad...

A recent survey has revealed that employees from all across the age spectrum have considerable gaps in their financial knowledge. Out of over 500 respondents, more than seven in ten of people from the generation X and millennials age groups did not have an understanding of pension investments. Additionally, 49% of those surveyed said that their pre...

November 2015 saw Chancellor George Osborne announce a significant rise in the amount of stamp duty for second home and buy-to-let properties. The new level, which came into effect in April this year, is higher than that on residential property by three percentage points. What this means is that buying a second home for £200,000, will now have £6,3...

Britain Takes Back Control. Or Does It? This somewhat, necessarily, lengthy note covers the likely consequences of Britain’ historic decision. It our attempt to give you an overview of how things currently stand following the Leave campaign victory; but you will appreciate that events are moving very quickly. ‘I declare that the total votes cast f...

Recently released data suggests that “The Bank of Mum and Dad” will lend out £5 billion this year to children looking to get on the UK property ladder. Parents will therefore be assisting in financing one in four of all UK mortgage transactions in 2016. The average loan amount will be £17,500, around 7% of the average purchase price, and parents ar...

Sales of luxury property in London have seen a considerable slump following Chancellor George Osborne’s sharp increase to stamp duty. Property industry observers have given warnings that the situation is becoming more and more harmful to the property market. Douglas & Gordon, an estate agency with particular expertise when it comes to property...

Responding to the HM Treasury consultation on the 3% surcharge on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) proposals for second properties, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) urges reform of the implementation plans to mitigate potentially negative impacts on the housing market as a whole. The CML view is that even without the new surcharge, the forthcoming...

Mike Shakespeare, Financial Planning Associate - Chester branch For those of us who feel a property portfolio is a valuable part of our financial planning the coming year will include some added costs. People buying additional property, including buy-to-let or second homes, will face a 3 percentage point surcharge on stamp duty rates from April 20...

According to HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) policy paper, ‘Restricting Financial Cost Relief for Individual Landlords’ it’s not just mortgage interest to which the change in tax relief applies. As well as mortgage interest, finance costs include interest on loans to buy furnishings and fees incurred when taking out or repaying mortgages or loans....

The possibility on an interest rate raise has been a hot topic this week with the vote by the Bank Of England Monetary Policy Committee being 8:1 for holding rates. This became greater news when it became apparent that another member has seriously considered voting for a rise. Clearly this is of little consequence if you are considering, or on a t...

A major shake-up of the buy-to-let housing market could be about to take place, after the Chancellor announced plans to change mortgage tax relief for landlords. In his Summer Budget speech, the chancellor said that the relief will be cut to 20%, from 40-45%, in an effort to “level the playing field” between buy-to-let landlords and ordinary house...

What next for mortgage rates? Fixed rates tumble to as low as 1.18% as lenders keep on cutting Mike Shakespeare - Financial Planning Consultant (pictured left) As we all know the fact that interest rates have been at historic lows has not meant the consumer has always benefited from rates you might associate with a 0.5% BOE base rate over the last...

With recent reports from the Autumn Statement suggesting most of the UK economic indicators are moving in the right direction, it doesn’t mean we can suddenly afford to ignore our personal financial planning. So in the best traditions of New Year here are ten financial planning resolutions that will hopefully help make 2015 a prosperous and secure...

Figures released recently in the Home Builders Federation’s (HBF) latest Housing Pipeline report show that planning permissions for 56,647 homes were granted in England in Q2 of this year – the highest number for over six years. The figure maintains the steady increase in total permissions granted in recent quarters and raises the Moving Annual Tot...

Settling on the perfect mortgage for you and your family can be a difficult task. How do you decide on which of the current offers will benefit you the most? If you go for the lowest interest rate, will you be hit by a raft of expensive fees? In this video we discuss how we help clients to find their perfect mortgage; from identifying the best deal...

Responding to the 2nd October 2014 message to consumers from the Money Advice Service (MAS) to plan ahead for future rises in interest rates, the Council of Mortgage Lenders suggests some practical steps that consumers can take now to help prepare for future rises in interest rates. While the MAS research suggests that many people have not yet take...

New Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) data published on the 9th October, on the characteristics of lending in August, show that lending declined slightly compared to July, the first month-on-month drop in house purchase lending volume since February this year. Total gross lending in August was £18.1 billion. This was 8% lower than July (£19.7 billi...

Legal & General’s latest quarterly Mortgage Mood survey has revealed that 68% of homeowners surveyed fear a mortgage rate rise in the next 12 months, but the majority of that group (45%) believe that rates won’t increase by more than 1%. Looking forward two years, over half of the homeowners (52%) feel that rates still won’t increase by more th...

People looking to buy a house in a highly competitive market are spending less time on property viewings and potentially missing out on signs of maintenance issues that could cause them financial pain down the line, according to new research from Aviva. Home buyers in the past year spent on average just over half an hour in total looking round a pr...

Alexander Beard Group are today delighted to announce a new service designed specifically for UK expatriates who want an easy way to invest in property back in the UK. Our specially designed Complete Property Investment Service contains all of the elements required to make investing in a property in the UK as simple as possible, so you can get on w...

Access to pension pots announced in this years’ Budget will not stem the looming interest-only mortgage crisis, Age UK is warning. From 2017, 40,000 interest only mortgages owned by borrowers aged 65 and over will mature every year. Interest only mortgage borrowers believe their average shortfall will be just over £22,000. But the latest estimate b...

Under new changes to the mortgage market, lenders will have to ask you, as the borrower, detailed questions about your spending. They will take into account any expenditure to which you are already committed and will need to know about credit card and loan repayments, hire purchase agreements and child maintenance or alimony payments. You will be...

The latest Legal & General ‘Mortgage Mood’ survey reveals that two thirds of consumers (65%) are not financially preparing for an interest rate rise in the next two years. At the same time, only 7% of those polled are considering re-mortgaging their home in the next 12 months. The Mortgage Mood survey is a quarterly study, which looks at the a...

Whether you are a client based in the UK or abroad, we are sure you will be interested in learning how the UK Government’s 2014 Budget might affect you and your finances. George Osborne delivered the Budget to Parliament on 19th March and we have put together the following analysis and summary, which details all of Mr Osborne’s major announcements,...