If recent events have taught us anything it is that jobs, income, and cashflow aren’t always as straight forward and secure as we might think. Sometimes, no amount of planning can prepare you for unexpected events and now more than ever, it is difficult to know how to make sure that you are financially secure when the economy is so uncertain.

Since 2013 the government in conjunction with house builders has offered the Help to Buy scheme which was developed with the intention of helping struggling prospective home buyers to fund the purchase of a new build property. Initially the scheme was set to run until 2020 but was slightly restructured and extended until 2023. The scheme was an instant hit and people flocked in their thousands to make the most of a really incredible helping hand.

For many years, shared ownership was a rather specialist and quite uncommon means of purchase as most people understandably want to purchase an entire property rather than part of a property! However, as house prices have increased by 4.3% on average every year since 2011, it is becoming more and more difficult for people to both save enough deposit to buy a property and earn enough money to meet the mortgage lending required to purchase a whole property.

Over the last few years there has been a lot of talk around deposits or, more specifically, the struggles that new buyers go through to save a deposit. With banks and building societies restricting lending and becoming seemingly more demanding when it comes to customer cash contributions, new buyers have become disillusioned with the whole idea and feel penalised by banks, building societies and home sellers in favour of older, more experienced purchasers.

Official figures release by the bank of England shows that both gross and net borrowing figures dropped across the board in December 2021. With January 2022 figures still to come, what can we say about this?

2021 was the most first-time buyer saturated year in at least 10 years according to Halifax intermediaries coming off the back of a year of pandemic uncertainty.

The Nottinghamshire based building society, which has been managing its customers finances and lending money in the UK since 1869, has joined the lender panel of Primis meaning that Primis advisors and brokerages will now have access to The Mansfield’s range of residential and buy-to-let mortgage products.

With rent at an all-time high and independence being at the forefront of every young person’s mind, buying your first home can really make you feel like you have taken a huge leap in life and achieved something. But unfortunately, it’s not always as straight forward as saving a deposit and getting a mortgage.

This week another positive post-covid lender update has been revealed as Accord Mortgages announced that they will be increasing their maximum mortgage loan to values.

2021 saw an astronomical increase in properties going on the market and new buyers looking for mortgages. However, figures so far have already suggested that this is falling fast already in the first 10 days of 2022 and is due to fall even further as the months and years go on.

Hearing ‘Rates on the rise’ in the news has become something to dread but is that really sensible? And is it something we should actively worry about?

West Midlands based building society The West Brom have announced that they are launching 10 year fixed mortgage products, something that could be a massive game changer for buyers and remortgagers.