Mortgage News, Insights & Advice
All the latest UK mortgage news, insights and advice from the world of mortgage lending and Oportfolio
What Is A Gifted Deposit & Do You Have To Declare It?
When purchasing a property, securing a sufficient deposit is one of the most significant financial hurdles you’ll encounter. Saving a large enough deposit, especially when you are having to pay rent and bills at the same time. Can be very difficult. For many, this...
Halifax Expands Foreign Income Mortgage Criteria
Halifax has announced a new exciting change to its mortgage application criteria, that is due to take effect on the 12th of August 2024. In a message to all mortgage brokers this morning, Halifax announced that they will now accept foreign income mortgage...
What Is The Own New Scheme?
The property market is constantly evolving, with prospective homeowners on the lookout for the best opportunities to secure their dream home. And with things like rising house prices and higher cost of living, it is becoming more difficult for people to make that leap...
How Long Does It Take To Get A Mortgage Approved
One of the most common worries that people have when buying a property, is how long will it take for the mortgage to be approved? It doesn't matter if you are a first-time buyer, second, third, fourth time buyer, or even a serial landlord. The fear that your...
September 2022 Budget Update
The new Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng has announced his September 2022 budget in the house of commons today. The new budget has been designed specifically to fit Prime Minister Liz Truss's attack on the rising cost of living and looming economic...
Guarantor, Joint Borrower & Sole Proprietor Mortgages
For hundreds of years, mortgages were pretty black and white. You want to buy a property but don't have the money to pay for it in full, so you borrow money from a lender and pay them back. Normal straight forward mortgages are given based on the borrowers income,...
Do I Need An Airbnb Mortgage?
Purchasing a property for the sole purpose of letting it out for short term holidays or short term business breaks has become increasingly popular in recent years, thanks primarily to the holiday let conglomerate Airbnb. So what do you need to do if you want to...
Foreign Nationals With Foreign Income – Case Study
Key facts: Clients were both foreign nationals, originally from countries outside of the UK. One is an EEA national and the other was not. They moved to London a few years ago and had been renting for a while. Now that they had both established themselves in the UK...
Will The Government Announce A Stamp Duty Cut?
According to several sources from Whitehall, Prime Minister Liz Truss's government are due to announce a stamp duty cut on property purchases in their Friday mini budget announcement. What Is Stamp Duty Tax? For anyone who doesn't know what stamp duty is, stamp...
How Age Impacts Mortgages
When it comes to getting a mortgage, there are a few rules and regulations that you need to follow and different lenders have different criteria. Each lender's criteria helps safe guard themselves from potential risks when lending money and also safe guards...
House Prices Expected To Fall?
According to a statement from the Centre for Economic and Business Research, house prices are expected to fall in 2023, giving hope to potential buyers who are being priced out by inflated figures. But potential bad news for people looking to sell! The CEBR...
Young People Spending More On Mortgages Per Month
Young People Are Paying A Lot More On Their Mortgages Comparison website Uswitch have released figures this week from a recent study, that show young people are shockingly paying a disproportionate amount more per month on their mortgages that older people. According...
New Build Homes On The Rise
Official government figures released this week show that the amount of new build homes being built in the UK has risen by 21%, indicating that there is no slow down in the demand for buying new properties....or, is this just wishful thinking from the...
Common Personal Insurance Questions Answered
In our previous two blogs, we answered the internets most common questions about the mortgage and the home buying process. Another extremely important of getting yourself financially secure and organised, is to make sure that you have the right relevant personal...
Buyers Are Reducing Property Budgets
Recent market analysis by Savills estate and letting agents suggests that new buyers and home movers are significantly reducing their property budgets because of the rising cost of living, increasing interest rates, tougher mortgage affordability rules, and spiralling...
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