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

20% Deposit Buy-To-Let Mortgage Offered By BM Solutions
Landlords and property investors have seemingly received a bit of a boost this morning as BM Solutions (Birmingham Midshires) announced an increase in their maximum loan-to-value (LTV) for buy-to-let mortgages to 80%. From tomorrow, you will be able to get a 20%...

Is Investing In Property In The North A Wise Move?
The North of England isn’t just synonymous with cheap pints, brit-pop and pies anymore! It seems that the North of England is capturing the attention of property investors like never before. Paragon Bank’s recent report, The Factors Driving the Buy-to-Let Market in...

UK Rental And Mortgage Payments Reach Highest Level In 13 Months
According to the recently released Barclays Property Insights report, UK rental and mortgage payments have surged to their highest level in over a year, with an increase of 6.4% in October 2024. This marks the steepest growth in housing costs since September 2023, yet...
Shared Ownership Misinformation Case Study
Our client and her partner found an ideal property through a large house builder on a shared ownership basis and was looking forward to the prospect of owning her first real home. However, despite the excitement they both felt, they were also extremely nervous as she had been told plenty of conflicting information about the best way of getting a mortgage by the builder, her friends, and her own internet research.
Deposit – What will I need?
Deposit. Probably the most common word you hear during the house buying process and, perhaps the one that makes people the most apprehensive. With any property purchase, unless you are lucky enough to buy in cash, you will need some form of property finance loan such as a mortgage. And, with any kind of mortgage, you will normally need to contribute some of your own funds towards the purchase.
Halifax reports record number of first-time buyers
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.
Credit score – Does it really make a difference?
Perhaps the oldest question in the book of mortgages, do I need a good credit score to get one? For years people have avoided getting a mortgage because of their ‘less than perfect’ credit score and hundreds of thousands of people have missed out on some perfect properties due to black and white mortgage lenders and inexperienced advisors.
Mansfield Building Society joins Primis network
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.
Uninhabitable property gives buyers nightmares
Our clients owned a residential property that they would be selling to try and purchase their dream home. Unfortunately, the new property needed a major upheaval to make it liveable for the clients and their family.
Cladding on flat causes client to change his plans
Our client and his partner both owned separate flats and their intention was to sell both and use the joint equity to purchase one single property for them both to live in. Our client’s partner sold her property very easily however he was unable to sell his property due to it having cladding.
How generous are you parents?
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.
Parents wanted to help their daughter buy her first house
Our clients wanted to help their daughter in any way they could to purchase her first property. Our clients owned their own residential property which meant they would be liable to a large stamp duty tax if they went on a standard mortgage with their daughter.
Couple dream of escaping to the countryside
Our clients had been living in London for several years and had toyed with the idea of moving away from the big smoke and raising their children in the countryside. However, a change in employment circumstances caused a big issue.
Marital Split and Credit Issues Case Study
Our client was splitting up with his partner and wanted to do a buy to let remortgage on their shared property to release equity and buy his ex-partner out. The fairly straight forward remortgages plans were thrown in to disarray when an unexpected credit issue appeared on the clients file.
Bite sized news: New hope for new build purchasers
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.
We're Here to Help
If you have any questions about UK mortgage news or anything you’ve read then please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.