Nottingham Letting Agent Property Blog

During the last year borrowing by landlords has increased by 32%, and nearly half of this money has gone towards buying up new properties. During the first three months of this year buy to let lending reached £3.7 billion according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and 32,300 mortgages were taken out. These figures are an increase of 32% on the same period last year. In spite of this increase the £3.7 billion spent on property was actually 5% less than during the last three months of 2011, and this could be due to the fact that buy to...

Increasing numbers of tenants are asking to see that the landlord does have permission from their lender to rent out the property, and this is beginning to affect those landlords who have been forced to rent out their property until they can sell it. Unfortunately many of these so called ‘reluctant landlords’ have failed to get permission from their lender as this would push up the interest rates on their mortgage.The problem faced by tenants is that they are at risk if the landlord subsequently defaults on their mortgage, and could find themselves homeless. According to the Association of Residential Letting...

It looks as if buy to let will remain popular for a good many years to come, as more Britons are choosing or being forced to rent, but how do you choose the best investment property? As with any type of investment, doing your research is vitally important, and you need to decide if a buy to let property is what you really want. Investing money in rental properties is very much a long-term project, and it's worth remembering that your money is likely to be tied up for quite some time, and the value of the property could even fall.The...

Accidental landlords are being warned to tell lenders about that change of circumstances as otherwise they could be breaching the terms of their contract. These are landlords who have been forced to rent out their home due to the stagnant property market. The trouble is that some lenders are taking advantage of the situation and are putting householders onto more expensive buy to let mortgage rates. Policies can vary from bank to bank, but most will charge a slightly more expensive rate. Before the financial crisis things were a lot more relaxed and most banks were reasonably happy over allowing householders...

The government originally set up an emergency bank to oversee mortgages from Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, but it's being alleged that this bank is treating landlords unfairly. UK Asset Resolution is apparently being somewhat heavy-handed, and this is leading to tenant evictions and the sale of properties at below market value. The bank’s purpose is to wind down £77 billion worth of mortgages which it took on when Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley failed, with the aim of reclaiming as much of the money used in bailouts as possible. This might seem laudable but there are claims the...

According to figures recently released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the number of properties purchased with buy to let mortgages rose by around 84,000 last year, helping to increase the supply of privately rented homes. During the last quarter of 2011, 34,800 buy to let mortgages were approved, although 15,000 of these were remortgages. They have a total worth of £4 billion. These figures are almost the same as those seen in the third quarter, but are substantially up on the fourth quarter of 2010 when 26,300 loans were approved, worth £2.9 billion.While this might seem like a relatively large...

A new report published by the Financial Services Authority has found the majority of sale and rent back transactions were either unsuitable or unaffordable. The FSA has reviewed all regulated SRB firms and now all have more or less stopped taking on new business while one firm has been referred to the FSA's enforcement division.The FSA reviewed a total of 22 firms, but only nine had been active since they began regulating this sector. Five of the nine firms have stopped doing business in this sector while another three have decided not to do any business for the foreseeable future, while...

Concerns about proposed EU legislation remain high amongst responsible landlords, as there are real worries that it could potentially devastate the buy-to-let market. The new directive proposes that buy-to let-mortgages should be regulated in the same way as residential mortgages. If passed, this new directive could be law by as soon as 2013.At the moment would be landlords can take into account anticipated rental income when calculating how much they can borrow. Buy-to-let mortgages are generally approved if the predicted rental income covers the monthly mortgage repayments. Under the terms of the new directive their applications will be assessed in exactly...

Chancellor George Osborne has just announced a radical new scheme designed to help first-time buyers get on the property market, as the government will guarantee low deposit mortgages. The scheme is aimed at helping people who are unable to raise enough cash for a deposit, as this is currently one of the biggest barriers towards securing a good mortgage rate. This mortgage indemnity guarantee is likely to increase the attractiveness of first-time buyers with small deposits to lenders as it would protect them from any loss should their home fall into negative equity. The lender would be able to claim the...

Approvals for a home loans have fallen for two consecutive months, as October saw a 1.1% decline compared to the previous month. This decline is being blamed on mortgage lenders who are focusing their attention on borrowers who have larger deposits, and 90% loans account for just 1% of all lending. The cheaper end of the property market is seeing the fastest drop in approvals as buyers struggle to meet the strict lending criteria. Even though it appears as if higher loan to value mortgages are available, the truth is that most first-time buyers simply aren't eligible.In the past this might...

Although rates for buy to let mortgages have fallen during the last 12 months, they are still significantly higher than residential mortgages. Interest rates for all types of buy to let mortgages have fallen significantly over the last 12 months, and average arrangement fees have also tended to fall. In spite of this interest rates and arrangement fees are still much higher than for normal residential mortgages. Data from Defaqto shows the average rate for two, three and five year fixed rate and two-year tracker 75% loan to value mortgages have fallen quite considerably since September last year, and average arrangement...

Apparently the Council of Mortgage Lenders has seen new amendments to the EU’s mortgage directive which could exempt buy to let mortgages. The European Parliament’s Internal Markets and Consumer Protection committee recently published its report on the proposals, and agrees with the CML that the regulations should not be uniform right across different consumer groups and products.The IMCO report also suggests that some of the current obligations by lenders could be relaxed. These include not having to let mortgage applicants know why they have been rejected, as well as the requirement that advice should be given covering a wide range of...

The number of buy to let mortgages on the market is now 26% higher than in the second quarter, according to a report in Property Wire, and there is now a choice of over 500 products, compared to just 400 in the previous quarter. This increase in products is in response to the continuing demand from buy to let investors as the rental sector continues to strengthen.The report found that complex buy to let deals give the best yields, but new products aimed at investors looking to purchase smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation have caused yields for this type of property...

The buy to let market has celebrated its 15th birthday, as buy to let mortgages began in 1996 when a panel of six mortgage lenders agreed to launch the new product. Although the market has seen its highs and lows, most experts seem to agree the economic indicators for buy to let sector remain strong. The reasons for this are largely due to lack of financing for first-time buyers, and most believe this is unlikely to change in the short term. The austerity measures are also beginning to kick in so more people have less disposable income and are less able...

According to a Connell's survey on housing market activity, mortgage valuations were virtually unaffected during August and were just 4% lower than July. They would normally decline by an average of 9% during July and August, but the number of valuations showed a year on year increase of 49% giving them their busiest August since 2007. Although the economic situation is still somewhat wobbly, the remortgaging market is doing well, and activity has increased month on month, and compared to August 2010 has increased by 108%.It doesn't look as if interest rates will be increased for the foreseeable future, and even...

According to a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, some landlords are choosing to sell up, which might seem curious given the fact that the media is consistently reporting the high demand for rental property. There are a number of reasons why landlords might choose to sell their property now, and the main reason could be that they purchased the property at the height of the boom in 2007, and are now due to remortgage. This could be a problem for landlords who have very little equity left in their property due to falling house prices, as the majority...

The Legal and General Mortgage Club is planning to become the top distributor of buy to let mortgages 2014, and this decision is apparently based on a review of the medium and long-term prospects for the mortgage market. Apparently it's their view that much of future growth will centre around the buy to let sector, hence the decision to become a leading distributor of buy to let mortgages rather than just a leading distributor who also does buy to let mortgages.The company has also been in talks with buy to let specialist lender Paragon, who is well known for taking the...

A new survey by buy to let mortgage specialist Paragon shows that 23% of landlords in Britain feel more optimistic about rental income and yields, and property portfolios. The Private Rented Sector Trends Report for the second sector of 2011 showed that optimism was highest amongst professional landlords, at 30%, compared to 15% of landlords with just one or two properties.Interestingly this survey also showed that landlords were expecting their portfolios to increase, which is the first time in two years. The survey showed increasing optimism over the value of portfolios with 14% expecting the value of their properties to increase...

It looks as if some mortgage lenders are reducing rates for buy to let investors, in order to reach the top of the best mortgage buys tables. The average rates for tracker and fixed rate mortgages have dropped, with the average two year fixed deal now at 4.65%, while a three year fixed deal costs 5.30%. The average percentage for a three year tracker is just 3.49%.  According to the latest research from LSL Property Services, it is still a good time for would be landlords to invest in property, although the majority of good mortgage deals will still require a...

With mortgage rates still at a historic low many people are trying to overpay their mortgages, as when the economic recovery gathers pace interest rates will have to rise, with the extra cost eating into rental income. So is it worth overpaying now? Some landlords may have made good profits over the last few years and could be sitting on significant sums of cash and paying down a mortgage while interest rates are low seems to be very sensible and is a way of shoring up finances against more uncertain times.This may be academic depending on the attitude of your lender,...