Mortgage News, Insights & Advice

A newly announced government initiative could see lenders providing mortgage rate reductions for energy efficient homes or homeowners who are willing to make improvements to their existing properties, making them more energy efficient. With the average mortgage rate...

It isn’t just about rates. When looking at mortgages it is important to consider all mortgage fees, other associated fees, incentives and the small print. This is what we do for our clients, and this is what sets our advice and guidance apart from the rest. In this...

We at Oportfolio Mortgages have some very exciting news. We are now officially working with eConveyancer, a property conveyancing organisation that will help us to provide an even smoother and better mortgage journey for our remortgage clients. What Is A Conveyancer?...

Recently released data shows that unfortunately mortgage arrears in the UK are on the rise, due mainly to the ongoing costs of living crisis. An increase in both mortgage interest rates and the general costs of food and utilities over the last few months has meant...

Halifax bank have announced that they will be making some significant new changes to their existing loan to income affordability criteria. These new changes being brought in are a surprising yet encouraging move from a major high street lender like Halifax, but they...

Newly released data from national estate agent Hampton's shows that average rent for outside London has exceeded £1,000 a month for the first time, clearly displaying the drastic shift in the rental market over recent months. In the capital, where our head office is...

UK buy to let mortgage lenders Accord mortgages and Bank of Ireland have both announced that they will be making some big changes to buy to let products that they currently offer. Specifically, they will both be increasing the rates on their main products, meaning...

The most sensitive topic on the lips of current and potential mortgage borrowers in the UK at the moment is mortgage rate hikes. The news is full of horror stories of how rates have shot up over the last few months, leaving thousands of borrowers worse off on their...

In the week leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of the Bank of England's latest base rate rise, the UK mortgage market unfortunately saw more mortgage rate rises that mortgage rate reductions. On the 11th of May the UK's central bank the Bank of England...

As property prices have become more expensive and the ability to save larger deposits has become more and more difficult, an increasing demand for higher loan to value mortgages has been seen across the mortgage market. The dissolution of the Help to Buy scheme this...

As predicted by most people, the Bank of England has announced that they will be increasing the base rate again. This time by 0.25%. The new Bank of England Base Rate of 4.5% is a whopping 3.5% increase on the 1% level that it was in May 2022 and a 15-year high. What...