Second part of Help to Buy brought forward!

Second part of Help to Buy brought forward!

The second phase of the Help to Buy government scheme has been brought forward from its previous launch date in January 2014 to 7^th of October 2013! David Cameron has expressed his understanding that the need for this is now.

The second part of the Help to Buy Scheme is a mortgage guarantee, the government will back up to 15% of the mortgage for borrowers with deposits as little as 5%. The aim is to make mortgages more readily available. However there is still a strict process borrowers will have to go through to obtain the mortgage such as rigorous affordability checks. The property being purchased will have to be the sole property and cannot be bought as a second home or buy to let.

There are already several lenders signed up to the scheme although it has not yet been revealed how much the government guarantee will cost the lender. The lender will have to pay a fee for the mortgage guarantee, in the case of a property getting repossessed and not being able to recover the loan from the sale the government will cover 15% of the loss. This is to deter lenders from allowing loans to anyone and everyone and ensuring the loans are affordable for the borrower.

First time buyers and existing property owners are eligible for the scheme and the second part is for new and existing properties. Some banks are welcoming the news of the scheme being brought forward, offering longer opening hours in busy periods, although mortgage brokers fear a flurry of new applicants.   

New interest rates on these new government backed mortgages are yet to be revealed as is the fee for the lender. Applicants can apply for the scheme as early as next week.

Help to Buy showing positive impact upon the housing market!

Help to buy showing positive impact on the housing market!

The new government Help to Buy scheme is proving to be a big success. The scheme has beaten forecasts which were predicted to show positive signs regarding the housing market. According to the Home Builders Federation (HBF) 4,000 people have reserved a new home under the Help to Buy scheme since it has been live over the last 2 months. In conjunction with this the interest in the scheme has been huge and more than 500 buyers each week are signing up for the new scheme.

 

House prices rising

Halifax has also pointed out that UK house prices are rising at their fastest rate since September 2010. Launched in April 2013 the Help to Buy scheme offers first time buyers and existing homeowners an interest-free (for the first 5 years) loan to build upon a deposit to help them buy a new build property. The buyer only needs to raise a 5% deposit to qualify for the scheme and the government then contribute a further 20% enabling the buyers to get a better rate, more affordable mortgage and move on/up the property ladder.

Experts Criticism

However the data showing evidence of house prices increasing is likely to cause criticism of the Help to Buy Scheme. Some experts have warned of a housing bubble with house prices inflating to high levels. The scheme is currently set to run until 2017. Halifax have stated that the average price of a UK home is now £166,898 which is an increase of 3.75 compared with May 2012 when the average UK house price was £160,906.

Although there are signs of improvement regarding the housing market these are still limited with our low economic growth and weak income growth. These issues will be a constraint upon the housing market in the long term.

First time buyer’s increase

The number of first time buyers taking on mortgages increased by 15% in April when the scheme began, according to property group LSL. This may have been due to the support of the scheme and lenders becoming more flexible about offering mortgage with high Loan to Value proportions.

If you want more information about the Help to Buy scheme or a quote for your conveyancing Help to Buy transaction then visit our dedicated Help to Buy website.

Click here for more information about Help to Buy

Mortgage Strategy Awards

Mortgage Strategy Awards 2013

Best Conveyancing Service – 3rd Place

We are very pleased to announce that at the recent prestigious Mortgage Strategy Awards 2013 we took home 3^rd place for ‘Best Conveyancing Service’.

We are very thankful to all of the Estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers and Financial Advisors who kindly nominated us! The awards are judged by top industry professionals so it is an honour to receive such highly recognised credibility.

Clive Dickman, Head of Business Development said “Winning this award is the culmination of a lot of hard work by all our staff and is the result of us continuing to strive to always improve our conveyancing standards”.

This award is a result of our continued commitment and passion to excellent customer service and conveyancing, along with working with fellow industry professionals to achieve the best outcome. The housing market is a continuing competitive and challenging industry so we are glad to receive this award in reflection of our hard work.

We are very proud to be recognised as a top market leader in this industry. Being acknowledged for providing a high level of reliable and efficient conveyancing service, locally and also nationally, is something we are very grateful for.

Visit our website for more information or a conveyancing quote