The chancellor is expected to unveil a mortgage guarantee scheme that aims to help first-time buyers get their foot on the property ladder in next week’s budget. Rishi Sunak is attempting to incentivise lenders to provide mortgages to first-time buyers, along with current homeowners, with deposits as low as 5% on properties worth up to £600,000. The government will offer lenders the guarantee they need to provide mortgages covering the remaining 95%, with details set to be unveiled on Wednesday. The scheme will be subject to standard affordability checks, and is expected to launch in April. Low-deposit mortgages have virtually disappeared due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Treasury said as Boris Johnson announced he wanted “generation rent to become generation buy”. “Young people shouldn’t feel excluded from the chance of owning their own home and now it will be easier than ever to get on to
Read more →Portfolio mortgages can simplify finances for overseas and expat landlords holding property in the United Kingdom, as that’s what they’re primarily designed for. With recent news regarding tax and stamp duty laws, overseas landlords are forever looking at methods to increase their investment income. Further changes in 2020 will lower the amount of tax relief a landlord can claim. For instance, overseas landlords won’t be able to offset interest as an expense like previous years. For landlords with multiple properties, or landlords aiming to grow their portfolios, a portfolio mortgage could be something to consider. Placing an entire portfolio under one mortgage can be beneficial, especially with a large number of properties. What is a portfolio mortgage? A portfolio mortgage allows overseas and expat landlords to place all of their buy to let mortgages under one mortgage. Portfolio finance is treated as a single mortgage account. Rather than having separate buy
Read more →In 2018, the average UK tenant spent 52% of their disposable income on rent and with rental payments so high it makes saving for a deposit to purchase a flat or home very difficult. There is however a scheme that provides an option for those who wish to own a property but do not have a large disposable income or savings. The Shared Ownership mortgage scheme allows applicants who are not able to currently afford to buy a property with the option to ‘purchase’ a share of a property whilst paying rent on the remainder. To be eligible for this scheme your household income must be £60,000 or less (£90,000 or less in London). Also, you need to be approved by the Housing Association and often you can only buy in the borough that you currently live in. An Example You buy a 25% share in a £500,000 property for £125,000. Your
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A UK new-build property Should you buy a UK new build property or an existing property already built? You often see news in the press moaning that not enough new homes are being built in the UK and that there’s a vast shortage of housing. In fact, government figures show 162,180 were built last year (2018). That isn’t enough to fix the housing shortage but it does mean most of us will come across a brand-new property when we are out house hunting. Here are some pros and cons of buying a brand sparkly UK investment property new home straight from the developer against an existing home already built and for sale on the market. Pro’s of buying a new build property in the UK Unpack and go – A new home is a blank canvas with fresh tiling, paintwork, kitchens and bathrooms. This means there should be very little,
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Getting A UK Mortgage With Foreign Income If you are a British expat living and working overseas and you are paid in a non sterling currency, you may experience difficulty securing a mortgage on a UK investment property property or remortgaging with an existing lender. The positive news is that there are lender options for UK expats and foreign nationals when it comes to remortgaging or purchasing property in the UK. It is possible to get a UK mortgage from abroad using foreign currency or a combination of Sterling and a foreign currency, typically US Dollar or Euro. Foreign currency mortgages are available Despite the seemingly overly restrictive regulations and the influence they have over traditional lenders’ appetite for lending to those with foreign currency income, it is still possible to access the funds you need to purchase a property in the UK. The lenders who are willing to provide
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What is life insurance? Life insurance can pay your dependents money as a lump sum or as regular payments if you die early whilst you are working and in employment. It’s designed to provide you with the reassurance that your dependents will be looked after if you’re no longer there to provide for them. The amount of money paid out depends on the level of cover you buy. You decide how it is paid out and whether it will cover specific payments, such as mortgage or rent. You may need to think about whether receiving a payout will affect any means tested benefits your dependents might otherwise be eligible for. There are two main types of life insurance: Term life insurance policies: run for a fixed period of time (known as the ‘term’ of your policy) – such as 5, 10 or 25 years. Some policies can run longer upon
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Why Invest in Property in the UK? Why Should Overseas Investors Invest In UK Property? Bricks and mortar have long been seen as a prudent way to invest with the phrase ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ revealing just how deeply entrenched in the British psyche investment property is. The UK investment property business is a financially rewarding and exciting business which can produce great rewards. It can produce a consistent income, even once you have retired. Historically, property prices have been on a strong upward trend since the 1970’s despite some volatility during the recession and credit crunch . New research has revealed that houses prices have grown faster in the UK than any other Europeans country. In fact, since 1988 house prices have gone up by a staggering 333%. This represents an average rise of 12.3% per year. Many home owners have benefited from the rising housing market
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What is a secured loan? A secured loan requires you to pledge an asset, such as your home, as collateral for the secured loan. In the event of missing a payment or defaulting on the loan, your bank or lender can then collect the collateral and repossess the property as a matter of last resort . This type of loan generally has a lower interest rate because the bank has less risk since it can easily collect the collateral if you default on payments. On the positive side, a secured loan can be a good way to build credit if you go through a reputable lender like a mainstream high street bank. Types of Secured Loans Mortgages are secured because your home acts as collateral for the loan. If you miss payments, you can go into forfeiture and lose your home. Car loans are also secured loans. Similar to aRead more →
Weak Pound Fuels Property Investment The continued weakening of the Sterling Pound is creating massive buying opportunities but most of these are from overseas property investors mainly based in Asia. Right after the Brexit vote, the value of the pound significantly plummeted and most overseas investors snatched this opportunity to secure properties in Britain to make significant investment savings. Since 2018, as much as 57 percent of homes located in the prime central London area were bought by foreign investors according to the data provided by Hamptons International. Similarly, EU investors were among the largest group of foreign buyers investing in the said area. EU investors bought as much as 19 percent of properties in the second half of 2018, up from 10 percent during the same period in 2017. Overseas investors now own as much as 36 percent of properties in the Greater London area. In the past yearRead more →
Weak Pound Fuels Rich Foreign Investors’ Rush To Buy Student Flats Student numbers may be declining but foreign investors are lining up to buy Plymouth’s student flats with one block already being snapped up by a Middle Eastern consortium in a multi-million pound deal. The Coombestone House block, in Hastings Street, was bought by Qatari investors, according to industry insiders, earlier this year and other investors from the oil-rich nation are investigating opportunities in the city. Meanwhile a company from Singapore paid £180million for five huge Plymouth student apartment blocks which were offloaded by Unite. And two other blocks are said to have been gobbled up for “more than £1million” according to industry sources. Other properties are owned by businesses from Malaysia and South Africa, among others, and delegations from Kuwait, Israel, Spain and China are sniffing around the city. Nationally wealth funds and investors are snaffling property left, rightRead more →
