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Here at Placing Faces we’re always looking to be up-to-date with the latest news and advancements in the Property and Mortgage Sectors, and we think you should too! Check in weekly to find our picks of the most relevant, interesting and informative articles.
House prices increased yet again in January, rising by 11.2% over the year, the latest data from Nationwide has revealed.
According to the mortgage lender, house prices climbed by 0.8% from December meaning January was the strongest start to the year for residential property price growth since 2005. The average UK house price, according to the Nationwide House Price Index, is now £255,556.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The total number of property transactions in 2021 was the highest since 2007 and around 25% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic struck.
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Mortgage arrears fell by 3.1% to 74,210 in the third quarter of the year, as government pandemic support for household incomes remained in place until the end of September.
There were 2400 fewer mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the outstanding balance, as households were able to draw on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), according to data from UK Finance.
The banking body says this level of arrears are “near historic lows”.
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32% of mortgage applicants have faced at least one rejection from a lender, new research from KSEYE has found.
The bridging lender surveyed 752 UK adults who had applied for mortgages in the past five years. It found that 68% were successful at their first attempt, while 32% were rejected on at least one occasion.
Of those who were rejected by lenders, 44% said it was due to having an irregular income rather than a monthly pay-check. 30% were self-employed when rejected for a mortgage.
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The pandemic has led to a surge in young people taking a closer look at their financial situations, with members of Generation Z increasingly investing in property to secure their future.
Consequently, changes in financial sentiment, together with the potential for inflation and rate rises to cool soaring house prices, are transforming ‘Generation Rent’ into ‘Generation Buy’.
Further supporting this point are the recent signs that the UK housing market will remain hot, even without the stamp duty holiday that has sustained the property market during the past year.
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Bridging lending has returned to the highest levels seen since 2018, according to data from more than a dozen packagers in the sector.
Gross lending by contributors to the survey hit £190.24m in the third quarter of this year, which is the highest volume recorded since Q4 2018.
Lending was up by 30% on £146.52m the previous quarter and by 65% on £115.52m in Q3 2020. Contributors attributed the growth to strong housing market activity ahead of the tapering down of the stamp duty holiday.
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The delivery of new homes is at risk because of supply chain concerns and land supply issues, according to new research released today by global property consultancy Knight Frank.
In a survey conducted by Knight Frank of over 50 of England’s leading volume and SME housebuilders, 61 per cent of respondents said that supply chain issues and rising material costs were the biggest challenges adding pressure to their bottom line.
Asked about availability of land, 80 per cent of respondents said it was ‘limited’ or ‘very limited’.
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The price of the average fixed-rate mortgages have increased for the first time since June but still remain much lower than the same time last year.
Fierce competition from lenders has caused rates on two and five-year fixed rate deals to fall consecutively over the past four months. It has meant many borrowers who have taken out mortgages during this time have been benefiting from record low prices on their repayments.
The good news is prices are still low compared to November 2020 and product choice has exceeded 5,000 for the first time since March 2020 (5,222).
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The number of UK homes for sale with an electric car charging point on the premises, or in a nearby street, has jumped sixfold in a year, according to Rightmove.
The property website said the proportion of homes with, or close to, this green feature lifted by 541% in 12 months on its listings pages, with a third of them added since the start of September.
The report comes as world leaders gather for COP26 climate change talks in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November.
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HM Land Registry’s land registration fees will rise from 31 January, the first increase since 2009.
This will affect applications for first registration and for the registration of transfers, leases and the mortgaging of property. The fee for applications submitted electronically will increase by 11 per cent while those submitted by post will go up by 21 per cent.
For Scale 1 applications for first registration and change of ownership for monetary value, the new fee for the lowest property value band of zero to £80,000 will be £45, a difference of £5.
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The FCA has announced plans to introduce “specific sustainability-related requirements” for advisers as part of its new ESG strategy.
The regulator has published a new Discussion Paper to coincide with COP26 Finance Day, inviting views on potential criteria to classify and label investment products. As part of the Paper, the FCA says it is “exploring the best approach to introducing requirements for financial advisers” in due course. The FCA said it recognises “the important role that financial advisers play in providing consumers with sufficient information to assess which products meet their needs”.
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The Treasury is set to make an extra £3.3bn from property taxes in the new financial year compared to 2019/20, according to analysis of the latest forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Residential property transactions in 2022/23 are set to be 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The OBR’s economic and fiscal outlook, which was published following last week’s Budget, predicts that property transactions will be 1.29 million in 2022, higher than the 1.18 million for 2019.
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Understandably, after the end of the stamp duty holiday in September, many were wondering what the repercussions for the housing market might be in October. Would we see a notable drop-off in transactions similar to that which was evident in July?
As I write, we don’t have the actual transaction numbers but it wouldn’t be a great shock to see the numbers for October slightly down on September, however I don’t anticipate there having been anywhere near the same drop-off as earlier in the year when the full holiday ended.
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By relative standards, the UK’s bridging sector is in its infancy. While bridging loan products have existed as a form of specialist finance in earnest since the 1960s, in truth it is only in recent years that the market has carved out a meaningful share of the finance industry.
A number of factors have underpinned this surge in growth. Market Financial Solutions (MFS) recently celebrated its 15th birthday, making us one of the elder organisations of the sector. In those 15 years, of course, the industry has changed immeasurably – marking this milestone as an opportunity to reflect on the fluctuating fortunes of the property market and the bridging sector within it.
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Lenders are gaining confidence in lending to self-employed borrowers. Greg Cunnington of Alexander Hall highlights the best mortgage deals on offer for the self-employed and explains how to take advantage of them
There have been further improvements in the number of mortgage products available, with just under 5,000 mortgage products now on the market. This is an increase of over 300 products in the last two months – offering the biggest choice since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The price of property coming to market has jumped by 1.8% (£5,983) this month, the biggest rise at this time of year since October 2015, according to the latest Rightmove data.
Rightmove says the housing market has delivered a ‘full house’ for first time since March 2007, with price records in all regions of Great Britain and in all property market sectors (first-time buyer, second stepper and top of the ladder).
The number of sales being agreed was up 15.2% in September, versus 2019’s ‘normal market’ comparison.
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The Government’s introduction and extension of COVID-19 restrictions has had a marked effect on commercial property arrangements, with an increase in tenants seeking to include pandemic clauses when negotiating their lease renewals.
While measures have been introduced to support commercial tenants in these unprecedented times, the topic of pandemic clauses has become more important than ever, and it is essential that landlords understand the implications of these clauses when negotiating a commercial lease renewal.
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The average cost of moving home has increased by 12% over the past year from £671 to £748, not including stamp duty, estate agency or legal fees, according to research by MoneySuperMarket.
As people move house on average 5.5 times during their lifetime, this equates to a total of £4,116 – up from last year when the total lifetime cost was £3,688.
A survey reveals that the most common additional costs when moving home are buying new furniture for 55% of respondents and buying other household items such as bedding or kitchen utensils for 53%.
– 20th October
UK average house prices increased by 10.6% over the year to August 2021, up from 8.5% in July, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK House Price Index.
The average UK house price was £264,000 in August 2021, £25,000 higher than the same time last year.
Average house prices increased over the year in England to £281,000 (9.8%), in Wales to £195,000 (12.5%), in Scotland to £181,000 (16.9%) and in Northern Ireland to £153,000 (9.0%). London continued to be the region with the lowest annual growth (7.5%) for the ninth consecutive month.
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The existence of the gender pay gap has many far reaching effects on women’s lives. Now new research has uncovered the impact it is having on their homeownership plans.
Analysis by GoCompare has discovered women need 50% longer than men to save enough money for a deposit on their first home because of the financial disadvantage created by the gender pay gap.
The research found, on average, female first-time buyers needed a minimum of five-and-a-half years to save for a house deposit, compared to just 3.7 years for their male counterparts.
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A government push for mortgage lenders to reach an average energy performance certificate rating of band C across their mortgage portfolio by 2030, could prompt a fall in the value of older family homes, critics have warned.
In its Heat and Buildings Strategy, published today, the government reiterated proposals that it consulted on earlier this year, which would require mortgage lenders to disclose EPC ratings of their portfolios. It proposed a voluntary voluntary target to reach an average of EPC band C across their mortgage portfolio by 2030, “with the option of making this target mandatory if insufficient progress is being made”.
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Neil Foster, agent at Foster Maddison Property Consultants, said in the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK residential survey: “On the current trajectory, the sales market could cease to exist by the spring.
“Vendors are not coming to market at anything near average levels and the stock of available homes continues to shrink month-by-month.” The level of new housing supply coming to market remained in negative territory for the sixth month running with a score of -35 per cent in September, flat on -36 per cent in August.
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Housing supply is still considerably below the level of demand, according to Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance.
Aboody said a combination of buyers needing to move and taking advantage of the low-interest rate environment where a number of mortgages are sub-1 per cent is pushing up house prices.
This means that UK house prices are now at a record high of £267,500. Nigel Purves, chief executive of Wayhome added that house prices continue to cause affordability headaches for the majority of hopeful first-time buyers.
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House prices rose at their fastest monthly rate since 2007 in September, increasing by 1.7% to £267,587 and by 7.4% year on year, the latest index from Halifax reveals.
This marked a turnaround after a three-month downward trend in annual inflation, which peaked at 9.6% in May. Halifax calculates that house price increases over the period covered by the stamp duty holiday have far outstripped typical savings on the tax.
It says that in June 2020, the month before the stamp duty holiday began, the average house price was £239,317, meaning that a home mover would have faced a stamp duty bill of around £2,300.
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In the wake of the pandemic, just 15% of female employees have been prompted to save more into their personal pension, and only 13% have increased their workplace pension contribution compared to 24% and 19% respectively for men, highlighting the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on women in a monetary perspective.
According to newly released research from Close Brothers, 45% of female employees say they feel a greater level of financial anxiety than before the pandemic compared to 38% of their male counterparts.
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Tenants of privately-let homes in London are typically having to spend almost 40% of their income on rent, making it unaffordable to all but the highest earners, official data suggests.
This compares to the rest of England where median-income private tenants can expect to pay around 23%.
Data published today by the Office for National Statistics show that tenants in the capital with a median income would have had to spend 38% of their earnings in order to afford an average-priced rental home in 2020.
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Opinion: Taxing landlords won’t just hit their own finances – it will be a blow to renters too, warns Hiten Ganatra….
The leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, made it abundantly clear recently that landlords would be taxed further if Labour came into office when he stated that money to pay for social care could have been raised through taxing landlords.
For those of us who are either landlords or work in the sector supporting them, such poor economics can be despairing at times and the results of increased taxation of landlords is already becoming clear, it’s the tenants who will ultimately suffer.
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Advice firms have ramped up plans to hire new employees and grow client numbers, according to NextWealth and the Personal Finance Society (PFS).
The latest financial advice business benchmarks report found the average portfolio size is up to £345,693 in 2021, compared with £305,175 in 2020. Meanwhile, 65% of advisers have increased their number of clients, compared with 45% in 2020.
And 57% of financial advice businesses plan to recruit in the next 12 months, compared with 32% in 2020.
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Around one in three employees who have been placed on furlough have remortgaged, or at least considered doing so, in order to give their finances a boost.
That is according to new research from Canada Life looking at how currently furloughed workers have supported their finances throughout the pandemic.
Its study found that 34 per cent have considered their remortgaging options in order to keep their finances afloat, though this was a particularly popular move for younger workers with 49 per cent of those aged under 35 adopting this route.
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Online mortgage broker, Trussle, announced today an effort to hire 1,000 new advisors through 2022, with 100 in place by end of year. Given the massive demand for the recently launched 5 day Mortgage Speed Promise, Trussle is rapidly scaling up its free, award winning, mortgage advice service.
This hiring will make Trussle the largest broker in the United Kingdom and solidify its position as market leader within the online mortgage brokerage space. The incredibly busy property market through 2020 and into 2021 has meant house buying has been stressful and difficult for both consumers and those who work in the industry.
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We are in a much stronger position than we could have hoped for a year ago but it’s important to keep up the momentum. The latest lending data from the Association of Short Term Lenders presents plenty of reasons to be positive about our sector.
The figures, compiled by independent auditors, show bridging completions totalled £1.1bn in the second quarter (Q2) of 2021, an increase of 23.2% on Q1. Bridging loan books reflect this rise and now stand at more than £4.7bn. Applications fell slightly, by 1.7% to £7.36bn, but applications for the year ending 30 June were still up 26.9% on 2020, representing a strong pipeline of business.
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The average mortgage size increased by £20,000 between August 2019 and August 2021, according to new research from Trussle.
Overall the average amount that homeowners looked to borrow increased from just above £170,000 in August 2019 to approximately £190,000 in August 2021.
Trussle’s data shows that when the stamp duty holiday was announced there was a huge uptick in the loan amounts homebuyers were seeking. In just two months between June 2020 (£179,755) and August 2020 (£200,104) the average amount borrowed soared by over £20,000.
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A small business investor has warned with small to medium businesses (SMEs) employing 61 per cent of workers, the 1.25 per cent rise in National Insurance for employees and employers will both hit small firms hard and hamper economic recovery.
There are currently over six million SMEs in the UK employing 16.8m people, many of whose founders and directors are paid primarily in dividends. These individuals will be hit twice by this rise, with increased NI contributions also reducing the profits from which dividends are paid, said Luke Davis, CEO of IW Capital.
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Average rents outside London have increased by 5% over the year to August to reach £790 per month, marking the highest annual jump since Zoopla began recording the data 13 years ago.
Including London, average rents increased by 2.1% across the UK in the year to August, reaching £943 a month. London rents dragged down the UK average, falling by 3.8% over the year to £1,593, but the pace of annual decline has slowed from February when rents were down 9.8% year on year.
However, when London is taken out of the equation, UK rents grew at their fastest rate since 2008.
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Selina Advance has launched a new product, which allows home owners to borrow flexibly against the equity built up in their property.
The plan is called a home equity line of credit or Heloc, and the lender says it is the first of its kind to launch in the UK, but that such loans are common in the US, Canada and Australia.
Borrowers can take out a credit line of between £25,000 and £1m, only paying interest on the amount that they actually draw down.
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From online valuations and e-signatures to mortgage passports and ‘one-click’ home loans, Pete Mugleston predicts how technology is set to transform the process of buying a home
The past 16 months or so have proven not only that the housing market can change at the drop of the hat but also that it is – unexpectedly – quite resilient. Indeed, house prices have continued to rise, despite the economic uncertainty of the pandemic.
Along with this, conferences, roadshows, and other important industry events have been able to continue by moving online, helping to sustain relationships with prospective buyers.
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Mergers and acquisitions in the advice space can suffer from poor due diligence and culture clashes.
I’ve always had a soft spot for M&G, not least because they invented unit trusts back in 1931, but also because when working for KPMG and EY, I was involved with a number of very enjoyable projects within their business.
The environment seemed very collegiate, the people very high quality and, unlike some clients, they were very open-minded. Back in the 1970s, M&G were very adept in generating direct to consumer new business via “money off the page” – a strategy involving an advertisement in a publication like the Saturday Telegraph, for example, that promoted a fund.
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Reliance Bank has made a series of amendments to its range of products for both the intermediary and direct mortgage market.
Notable changes include the introduction of an improved £850 cashback incentive for all shared ownership mortgage applications where the customer is looking to borrow £50,000 or more.
It has also reduced the headline rates across its shared ownership mortgage product range, as well as extended the end date to 30 November.
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Moneyhub has launched a new feature that allows rent payments to show up on credit scores, helping renters who want to buy a home.
The payments app says its ‘rent recognition’ software allows renters to “demonstrate they can be trusted to meet financial commitments on time and can help to improve the credit score of young people or anyone with a patchy or non-existent credit history”.
The fintech says its tool lets users send anonymized details of rent payments to credit reference agencies such as Experian, offering alternative credit data which can build credit scores.
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UK house prices accelerated in August, the Nationwide has said, with values now 13% higher than before the pandemic.
The building society said that annual house price growth sped up, to 11%, with the average home costing £248,857. It said property prices recorded their second largest month-on-month rise in 15 years, up by 2.1%.
The Nationwide said the increase was “surprising”, given that the benefit from stamp duty holidays was reduced.
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Some landmark rates have emerged in the mortgage market recently, creating a competitive market which is ripe for borrowers keen to make savings.
Greg Cunnington of Alexander Hall explains how you can take advantage of the buoyant market and tap into the best deals.
The full stamp duty holiday may have come to an end but the property market remains busy. A combination of the improving economic outlook, an abundance of mortgages, attractive rates and improving criteria (conditions borrowers must meet to be approved for a mortgage) means things are still looking good out there.
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Fleet Mortgages has made a series of cuts to rates on its 2 and 5-year fixed-rate products across all three of its ranges – standard, limited company/LLP and house in multiple occupation (HMO)/multi-unit block (MUB).
Notable cuts within the limited company/LLP range include the 65% loan-to-value (LTV) 2-year fix from 2.99% from 2.89%, and the 75% LTV 2-year fix from 3.24% to 3.10%. Both products have a rental calculation of 125% at 5.5% and a 1.5% fee.
Within its HMO/MUB range, the lender has reduced the 65% LTV 5-year fix from 3.53% to 3.43%, and the 75% LTV 5-year fix from 3.73% to 3.63% – both include a 1.5% fee.
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You may do all of the usual checks before leaving the house – like shutting all the windows, locking the door, setting an alarm – and think that’s job done. Even though your house may be locked while you’re out and about, it doesn’t necessarily mean all your contents will be safe.
Although you might not even realise it, there are simple mistakes we make every day which can actually expose our homes, making them more vulnerable to burglaries.
That’s why a team of home security experts from www.Boundary.co.uk have highlighted some of the more obscure mistakes we’re making that could be putting our homes at risk.
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Almost two-thirds of first-time buyers hold down a second job to help them save for a deposit, according to a poll from Ipswich Building Society.
The mutual’s survey says 64% of FTBs turn to a second source of income while saving for a home, which it says plays against this group “being labelled as the ‘bank of mum and dad’ generation”.
Second job figures among this group jump to 85% in London. The survey said 32% of those saving for a home have started their own business, half of which are related to their main job.
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Maxim Cohen, chief executive of The UK Adviser Group, talks about what exactly equity release is, why people might use it, why people should make use of it and why the use of it is increasing.
The most common form of equity release is a lifetime mortgage. A lifetime mortgage is a loan secured against your home, it’s typically repaid when you or the last surviving partner passes away or enters long-term care.
You retain full ownership of your property and there are typically no monthly repayments to make, as the loan, plus roll up interest, is repaid when the plan comes to an end.
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Building your own home could soon become easier after the government gave its approval to proposals to ‘scale up’ the self-build and custom-build markets.
There are thousands of people keen to design and build their own home from scratch but due to legislation, tax and other hurdles it has not been an easily accessible route to homeownership.
However, a review commissioned by the Prime Minister, aims to change this and has been examining how the self-build market can help to boost the overall housing supply in the country by creating more choice and affordable options for people.
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Dudley Building Society, the specialist lender, believes that shared ownership needs to be given fresh consideration by the intermediary community as frustrated first time buyers continue to see house prices outpace income growth.
Enhancements announced by the Government to shared ownership rules which came into force in April make this method of home ownership far more attractive, but probably due to the pandemic, the positive implications do not seem to have cut through.
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The number of private rented households with someone aged 65 or over living in them has jumped by 44% over the last decade, according to government data.
Over one million, or 25%, of private rented households in England have someone living in them with a long-term illness or disability, driven by an ageing population.
But despite this, a quarter of all private rented households that require modifications for the elderly say their home does not meet their needs, according to the government’s latest English Housing Survey 2019 to 2020 report.
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New analysis from criteria search specialist, Knowledge Bank shows a significant number of people are stretching their financial limits as a result of sky-rocketing property prices.
The research from Knowledge Bank’s industry leading mortgage criteria tracker found brokers are searching for ‘maximum loan to value (LTV)’ in their droves. The interest is coming from various sectors, with ‘maximum LTV’ either the most, or second most-searched across the second charge, equity release, self-build, bridging and commercial mortgage markets.
The range of sectors clearly illustrates the growing need for people to borrow the maximum they can, no matter how old or young.
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Many landlords will let you paint walls in your home, and this is a great way of really making the property feel yours, all you need to do is ask them first.
You don’t always have to buy new furniture to help make a rented property feel like home. If your flat is furnished, there are many non-permanent changes you can make to update the furniture to your style.
And if you’re moving into a rented property or looking to make changes, remember these four important top tips: do an inventory, take photos, get permission before making any adjustments, flag any signs of damage with your landlord.
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The MBT Affordability Index has revealed that mortgage affordability options for the self-employed contracted again in July.
Analysis of real cases processed through Mortgage Broker Tools (MBT) shows that in July, the average maximum loan size available to a self-employed applicant was £221,000 – a fall of more than 5% on June and the lowest level since February. Similarly, the lowest average loan size available to a self-employed applicant fell to just £90,452 in July – a decrease of nearly 17% on June and the lowest level since November last year.
The data also showed that fewer self-employed cases are considered to be affordable by lenders.
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Even more important than the new name is the story that goes with it, bringing personality to the fore.
There are many valid reasons for wanting to rebrand an advice firm: a change of ownership, a shift towards a different market or just fancying a fresh image.
However, advisers left wondering ‘Who pinched all the vowels?’ after the recent Abrdn unveiling will know that rebrands can be tricky territory. How can advisers go about it the right way?
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Eight out of ten brokers say flexible lending criteria is now a bigger priority for customers since the pandemic, according to a survey from Masthaven.
The lender’s report found that 79% of advisors say this feature has jumped in importance for borrowers since the start of the health crisis last March.
Other factors that have “significantly increased” among borrower’s considerations over this period are speed at 56%, flexible product features, 54%, and customer service, 52%. Only 26% of brokers said low rates were more important now than before the pandemic.
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I regularly ask aspiring financial planners what they fear most, and three responses dominate.
One is that they will lack the technical knowledge needed when in front of a client and won’t be able to answer a question. Another is that they will find it difficult to discuss their fees.
I will cover both of these at a later date as the third is something all aspiring planners can begin to address before they even sit their first exam.
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More than two-thirds (71%) of property professionals believe valuers should reflect Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings, according to a webinar poll carried out by Countrywide Surveying Services (CSS).
Almost 200 people actively engaged with the session, with the audience consisting of lenders, brokers, surveyors and other property professionals.
When asked whether lenders should reflect EPC ratings in mortgage rates, 56% said yes, with 44% saying no.
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Borrowers who switch to a new mortgage deal could make monthly savings of as much as £350 thanks to the introduction of new below-1% deals which have hit the market recently.
With rumours of a ‘mortgage rate war’ on the cards, experts are advising anyone coming to the end of their deal to remortgage while competition is hot.
Data from Moneyfacts.co.uk revealed how the average standard variable rate (SVR) – which is the rate borrowers revert to when their deal ends and they don’t switch – is currently 4.40%.
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Leeds Building Society has become the latest lender to offer mortgages with perks for customers who have energy efficient homes.
It is set to launch two new cashback mortgages which are for borrowers whose homes are classified in the top three tiers – A to C – on the energy performance scale.
The new mortgages, which offer customers £500 cashback on completion and have rates starting at 2.33% for a borrowers with a 10% deposit, are only available through intermediaries or brokers. However, they are part of an expanding group of deals hitting the market which are offering customers with incentives to boost their home’s energy efficiency.
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2020 saw a huge rise in demand for the housing market. The after effects of the first UK lockdown, coupled with the government’s Stamp Duty holiday, had thousands of buyers clamouring for new homes in desirable locations.
Many new homeowners are turning their attention to renovating their new properties.
But with demand high and imports affected by Brexit, building supplies shortages are threatening to raise prices and hamper the renovation dreams of many. We take a look at some of the key supplies that are in high demand right now and why they’re essential for building work.
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Long-term stability in the housing market could be on the cards thanks to a gradual slowdown in house price growth and easing of Government support says independent estate agent Robert Burdett, MD at James Leigh Property Management.
In the first-time buyer market, access to a broader range of mortgage products, the return of 95% LTV products, and the Government’s Help to Buy scheme means that access to finance is easing and this segment of the market is picking up pace again.
Homebuyers continue to search for homes that offer more space, including home offices, rural areas with access to the cities.
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Protection advice specialist Owl Financial has reported a rise in protection sales due to the Covid pandemic. The firm says around 25,000 households across the UK have benefited from its advice service in the first half of the year.
Owl Financial also report that more than 165 advisers, a large percentage of them female advisers, have joined the firm recently.
Around 45% of its advisers now are female with many joining from a non-financial services background attracted by the opportunities for career progression and flexible working.
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In an effort to expand its adviser edge platform, BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM) is launching Accelerator Pathways.
This new tool is designed to help advisers to develop soft skills necessary to grow and maintain their business. It is split across three stages: finding, winning and managing clients.
They focus on financial planning, investment and practice management. It also aimed to understand how advisers currently attract new clients.
– 12th
The average price of a UK home dipped 0.5 per cent in June, according to the latest House Price Index from Halifax.
The statistics, released yesterday, showed that the average house price was now £260,358 across the UK, having risen 2.9 per cent in the last quarter. Annually, however, house prices have increased by 8.8 per cent.
Indeed, the average price of a detached home has risen faster than any other property type over the past 12 months, up by more than 10 per cent or almost £47,000 in cash terms.
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A perk of the job is… helping people to improve their financial situation, assisting them in their day-to-day life and helping them to buy their home.
I wanted to become an underwriter because… as a mortgage broker previously, I was very analytical and always preferred the background work that came with helping people to buy a home.
A common misconception about my job is… that the requirements to get a mortgage can be difficult to meet, strict and very black and white, which I often came across as a broker. However, as underwriters we do all we can to help customers to get their mortgage offers.
– 1st July 2021
Feeling the financial sting of the pandemic? Miles Robinson takes you through some options to help you save on your mortgage repayments and examines the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme
Many people have struggled financially since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the UK, we saw a record high in redundancies in 2020 and an unemployment rate of 4.8% this year.
Here, we explore two ways homeowners can look to save on their mortgage: Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) or Remortgage.
– 30th
A low rate might be a good starting point when checking out the best mortgage deals, but Kevin Roberts explains why it’s essential you investigate some other vital factors too.
There are well over 700,000 homeowners in the UK who have fixed-rate mortgages coming to an end in 2021, which means many will need to find a new mortgage product to keep their monthly repayment costs down.
Unless they can refinance onto a new deal, these people risk automatically switching onto their lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) – which normally means paying a much higher rate.
– 29th
UK house prices rose 13.4% in the year to June, the fastest pace since November 2004, the Nationwide has said.
The building society said the average house price increased to £245,432 from £216,403 in June 2020.
Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said prices were “close to a record high” in relation to average incomes, which he added “makes it even harder” for first-time buyers.
– 29th
The advent of several mortgages with interest rates below 1% has caused a stir recently. We take a look at this small but tempting range of deals to find out whether they are really as good as they sound.
These deals – which those in the business have coined ‘sub-1%’ are coming in at 0.99% or even 0.95% and look particularly attractive at a time when, due to Covid-19, many households are looking to make savings.
But who can benefit from these deals and what – if anything – is the catch?
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Giving recruiters a better name since January 2016. We are honest, we are dynamic, we are modern, we are Placing Faces.
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