affordability

Affordability concerns dominate as brokers ramp up criteria searches

Lenders made more than 5,200 criteria updates in October, according to Knowledge Bank’s latest...

Redwood Bank extends commercial mortgage terms and eases affordability tests

Redwood Bank has made a series of changes to its commercial investment and owner-occupier...

London property market worth £2.6 trillion as affordability pressures curb price growth

The combined value of homes across London has surged to £2.64 trillion, according to...

Buyer demand rises but market “engine not yet running smoothly”

Fresh figures from Propertymark show encouraging signs of activity in the UK housing market...

AGENT VIEW: I know I’m not a mathematician but to me 6.5 x is the new 3.5 x

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, as they say, and in an era...

Two-tier first-time buyer market emerges

A growing divide is emerging in the first-time buyer market as new analysis reveals...

House prices hit record high as market defies slowdown

UK house prices rose at their fastest pace since January with the average property...

Buy-to-let boom slows as landlords focus on refinancing

The pace of the UK’s buy-to-let expansion is slowing as landlords increasingly shift their...

Ministerial cock-ups could kill radical property taxes

At first it might appear that the mortgage industry and the housing sector as...

Stress and costs leave one in five reluctant to move

A growing number of Britons are ruling themselves out of the housing market as...

HSBC raises income multiple for Premier borrowers to 6.5 times salary

HSBC UK has increased the maximum loan-to-income (LTI) ratio available to its Premier customers...

LendInvest cuts residential mortgage rates by up to 15bps

LendInvest Mortgages has reduced rates by up to 15 basis points across its Premier...

Mansion tax plans resurface as Prime London prices slide

Thirteen years since the Liberal Democrats first proposed a Mansion Tax on properties over...

Housemate horrors push young renters towards home ownership

Nine in 10 young renters say they’ve endured a “housemate horror”, according to new...

COMMENT

Buy-to-let at 30: the mortgage that changed Britain’s housing market

John Heron helped create buy-to-let when landlords had almost nowhere to turn for finance. Thirty years later, he and Paragon Bank's Louisa Sedgwick reflect...

Harpenden’s expat move could be bigger than the numbers suggest

Harpenden Building Society’s move into expat mortgages this summer has been good news for brokers and borrowers. But I think its importance goes beyond...

We need to wait to get a clearer picture

It's been a week where the political and economic backdrop has moved almost as fast as rates themselves, and it's worth taking stock of...

Leasehold valuation reform: the consultation is asking only half the question

The Government's consultation on leasehold enfranchisement valuation rates is important because it will help determine what leaseholders pay to extend leases or buy freeholds,...

What commonhold will mean for mortgage lenders and brokers

Commonhold is often presented as the straightforward alternative to leasehold. It removes the freeholder, gives flat owners greater control and avoids some familiar problems...

Latest news

PMS reports double-digit growth in mortgages and protection

PMS Mortgage Club says it is on course for its strongest performance in five...

Property firms urged to engage early with digital home-moving reforms

Property professionals have been urged to start testing digital home-moving processes now rather than...

DPMSG launches consumer guide to Smart Property Data

The Digital Property Market Steering Group has launched a consumer-focused video explaining how Smart...

Together joins Equity Release Council as later life market broadens

Together has become a member of the Equity Release Council as the specialist lender...

PROFILES