Mortgage News, Insights & Advice
All the latest UK mortgage news, insights and advice from the world of mortgage lending and Oportfolio

First-Time Buyer Mortgages UK: Leeds & Virgin Cut Rates
The UK mortgage market has received a welcome boost this week as Leeds Building Society and Virgin Money both announce significant rate reductions, aiming to support first-time buyers and homeowners looking for better deals. But with rising property prices, high...

New Low Barclays Mortgage Rates Of 3.96% Announced
Barclays Bank has announced a new wave of mortgage rate reductions, with some products falling below 4% for the first time in months. As of the 4th of March 2025, the bank has lowered rates across a range of mortgage products, including its Green Home five-year...

Mortgage Rates Drop as Lenders Introduce New Sub-4% Deals
Fixed mortgage rates have fallen once again this week, with new sub-4% deals entering the market, according to Moneyfacts. However, despite these reductions, the average rates on two- and five-year fixed mortgages remained unchanged compared to the previous week. In...
People Regret Not Taking Cancer Cover
In November 2022, British TV presenter and personality Jonnie Irwin revealed to the world that he had sadly been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Jonnie had been a staple of British television for the last 18 years, most famously as the host of Channel 4's A Place...
Meet Jessica Parkinson From Rose Capital Property Consultancy
This month Oportfolio Mortgages spoke to Jessica Parkinson, founder & managing director of Rose Capital Property Consultancy. Rose Capital Property Consultancy is an independent high-end London property consultancy that operates across all areas of residential...
How Does A Bridging Loan Work?
Through our website and through google, we often find people asking questions like "How does a bridge loan work?", "What is bridging finance?", "How much is a bridging loan?" and "Where can I get a bridge loan?". For anyone looking for temporary short-term lending,...
Best UK Mortgage Rates
In this market update, mortgage experts from Oportfolio mortgages in London will go through the current best residential mortgage rates on the market. Rates change all the time, so these rate may have changed by the time that you are reading this. These products and...
UK Inflation Finally Drops
The office of national statistics or ONS have announced that UK inflation has seemingly dropped in November. A great sign that the measures brought in by the Bank of England in recent months are hopefully starting to work. Inflation is the general rise of prices and...
How Much Extra A Year Could Your Mortgage Cost?
The role of a mortgage advisor is to help you and guide you in finding the best, most affordable and manageable mortgage deal for your circumstances. For those people who decide to arrange their mortgage on their own, this can sometimes backfire and you may end up...
Is The UK Economy Growing Or Shrinking?
The UK is currently in, or if not yet very close to a recession after months of shrinking economy and general economic struggles due to various factors. We are all holding our breath and hoping that the measures being put into place by the BOE and the government will...
Mortgage Lending To Fall To Pre-pandemic Levels
Mortgage lending is set to fall to levels not seen since before the pandemic of 2020, according to some experts. 2022 has been, to put it lightly, a disastrous year for mortgages and a difficult year for personal finances in general. The country are still in the dark...
Mortgage Lenders Encouraged To Be More Accommodating
In a move to help mortgage borrowers to cope with their payments during the ongoing financial crisis that the UK finds themselves in, ministers in the government have called for mortgage lenders to be more understanding and accommodating to those struggling. Lenders...
First Time Buyers Are Taking Long Mortgages
When my parents bought their first house in their early twenties, they paid around £40,000 and had a very affordable £400 a month 20 year mortgage. The interest rate was 11% at the time....but that is a different lesson from the history books! The average UK salary at...
House Prices Drop By 2.3% On Average
The biggest news on the property market front is that house prices have dropped in the biggest reduction since the UK financial crisis kicked off. Halifax bank, which regularly releases a house price index, have announced that the average house price has dropped by...
TMW Changes Stress Test To Help Landlords
Buy-to-let mortgage lender TMW have announced that they are making changes to their mortgage affordability stress test. But this time, it looks like they are going to be making it easier for borrowers. A great sign that the buy-to-let mortgage market will hopefully be...
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