Nottingham Letting Agent Property Blog

Some lenders have begun to increase their mortgage rates even though the base rate is still at an all-time low. The Halifax has already announced it will increase its standard variable rate from 3.5% to 3.99% on 1 May, affecting around 850,000 customers. The RBS has also increased its mortgage rate by 0.25% on two mortgage products, affecting around 200,000 customers, and bringing the rate in line with their standard variable rate. Santander is also increasing the interest rate on four of its mortgage products, but the change will only affect new customers. Lenders generally increase their standard variable rates in...

Although 2011 closed with more mortgage lending activity and a higher level of housing transactions, the Council of Mortgage Lenders points out this is coming from low levels, and cautions against reading too much into those recent figures from the Bank of England. Gross lending reached £13.2 billion in November which is 7% higher than in October and 15% more than November 2010. However the CML is estimating that gross lending will have dropped to £11.7 billion in December which is mainly due to the holiday season, but even so this figure would still be 12% higher than December 2010 and...

The Bank of England is forecasting that many people may not be able to buy their first home until they reach middle age, and it expects home-ownership numbers to drop significantly, with the percentage being forced to rent predicted to carry on rising. This bleak prediction comes as a new report shows repossession levels rising, with fears that they could double over the next two years. Standard & Poor’s report shows around 35,000 families being repossessed each year, but predicts this figure could increase to nearly 70,000 which would be close to the all-time high of 75,500 recorded in 1991. According...

The latest Eurozone crisis could push mortgage rate for new borrowers up, as Barclays Wealth has already pushed its lowest tracker rates up by 1.5% for new borrowers, and some brokers think high street banks could cut some of their best tracker and variable-rate deals during the next few weeks. The reason for this is because of changes in the inter-banking lending rate, Libor, which is used by the banks to price their variable rate mortgage deals. Libor is now at its highest level since July 2009, and interbank lending is expected to become more expensive due to the troubles in...

Last week's announcement that the Bank of England voted to keep interest rates the same probably came as no surprise, as recent weak data has made the prospect of interest rate rises appear ever more distant in spite of rising inflation and energy prices. Some economists are now predicting that the Bank of England went increase rates until the third quarter of 2012, and some are even predicting rates will not rise until Spring 2013. There is the slight possibility that the bank may relax monetary policy through the revival of quantitative easing in the future, even though so far only...

According to data from the Bank of England, the number of mortgages for landlords has reached 1.3 million even as first-time buyers continue to struggle to get funding. These first-time buyers are choosing to turn to Nottingham rental property while they wait for lending conditions to improve. But who are all these new landlords?Apparently some are homeowners who are remortgaging their primary property in order to invest in the buy to let market. This may prove to be a sensible investment as all the indications are that this sector will continue to boom for many years to come and property prices...

Apparently house prices are now 4.7% higher than at the beginning of 2011 following a price increase of 0.2% in July. Although this may seem like positive news the number of property transactions is at its lowest level for two years, according to the Nationwide, which is one of the most optimistic surveys around at the moment. According to them the average price of a house is now £168,731, and this is just 0.4% lower than July last year, and prices for an average house have increased by more than £7,000 since January.However the property market is still very slow, with...

The chance of interest rates rising in the near future has diminished, according to the minutes from the rate setting committee at the Bank of England. Apparently the committee voted 7 to 2, to keep rates the same at the last meeting, with only the bank’s chief economist, Spencer Dale and an external member, Martin Wheale voting for a rate increase.This news comes on top of claims that landlords are pushing out first-time buyers. A large number of mortgage deals are now aimed at buy to let investors leading them to purchase properties which would normally be bought by first-time buyers.Between...

Cash flow assessment is an essential part of seeing how well your property portfolio is doing, and with the current low interest rates the majority of landlords should be feeling pretty good about the whole thing. The question is whether to reduce your debts or expand your expand your portfolio. It all depends on how satisfied you are with it as a whole at the moment, and now is the perfect moment to take stock of your situation. If you are less than satisfied with how your property is performing then you could choose to begin looking around for other property...