Mortgage News, Insights & Advice
All the latest UK mortgage news, insights and advice from the world of mortgage lending and Oportfolio
Lenders Lower SVR Mortgages In Line With Bank of England
In a welcome move for homeowners with SVR mortgages, several leading mortgage lenders have already announced reductions in their Standard Variable Rate (SVR) mortgages following the Bank of England's decision to lower the base rate earlier this month. Effective from...
Zoopla House Price Report: Positive UK Property Market Trends
The UK's housing market is starting to look a lot more positive than it once did, with a notable increase in sales and buyers paying closer to asking prices, according to the latest data from property website Zoopla. The first half of 2024 has seen house prices...
UK Stamp Duty Residential Transactions Rise in June 2024
As head of content and marketing here at Oportfolio Mortgages, my job is to keep you, our clients, up to date and informed about the latest market news and trends. I am pleased to report to you in this article some interesting new data released by HMRC around property...
What’s on your Christmas list this year?
It’s been quite a year for the housing market. A three-month moratorium on all new transactions during the spring was followed in early summer with an explosion in activity as lockdown was lifted and the market reopened. It really is time to look forward to Christmas!...
Remortgaging Is Key To A Dream Property
After the year we’ve had, it’s understandable that many people don’t want to take on the additional burden of a bigger mortgage to buy their dream home. As I’ve already explained in a previous article, if you do want to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, which...
It’s time to plan for a more financially secure 2021
Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote an article which started with a question: How would you and your family cope if you suddenly found you were unable to work and earn a living? What would you do if you were no longer financially secure? Looking back, it seems almost...
Time’s running out in the race for a Stamp Duty holiday
There’s now just a little over four months to go before the Chancellor is due to slam the door shut on the Stamp Duty holiday that has saved homebuyers up to £15,000 in land tax since June this year. Recent figures from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)...
Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor Case Study
In 2019, Our client first came to us at Oportfolio to see how we could help him purchase his dream first home. Like many first-time buyers, our client did not know where to start and did not know what he could afford.
Can’t move? Grow the space you’re in
With the UK now formally in recession for the first time in 11 years, mortgage providers are inevitably becoming more circumspect in how they lend money for house purchases. And that means it’s becoming harder to secure the larger sums needed to move. As the Financial...
Now’s the time to take advantage of the housing market
According to some reports this week, the first signs that the post-lockdown housing boom that began when the government opened up the housing market at the beginning of June 2020 has begun to give way to greater caution. According to the online housing news portal...
The buy-to-let mistakes every landlord should avoid
Despite the uncertainty in the housing market, the prospect of buying a second property – or perhaps a third, fourth or fifth – as a landlord to rent out is still attractive to a lot of people. Recent research comparing the England and London property rental sector...
Turn up the green stuff to make a house a home
Most of us know what it’s like moving into a new house. You came to see it when it was in full swing as someone else’s home and it feels very different when you take your first steps into it as the proud new owner. The seemingly vacuous rooms that seem much bigger...
5 Reasons To Hire A Broker To Find Your Next Loan
There’s barely a single area of our increasingly busy lives where we don’t have the option to do things for ourselves at home in front of a laptop, and the process of choosing a mortgage product is no different. From online grocery shopping to switching your car...
Moving home? Get ahead of the game to get the best deal
Nothing in life stays the same. The plans we make for today and tomorrow can change over time and new plans will need to be made. That’s certainly true when it comes to buying houses. There are all sorts of reasons for moving. It may be that you originally bought the...
Perfect days out close to home
With the school holidays here, summer brings great opportunities to spend time together as a family. But if you’re not careful, family days out in London can come with a weighty price tag. Luckily, in Fulham and Chelsea and beyond there are loads of local things to...
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