Mortgage News, Insights & Advice
All the latest UK mortgage news, insights and advice from the world of mortgage lending and Oportfolio
Santander Increases Mortgage Rates for Residential, First-Time Buyers, and Buy-to-Let
Santander has announced rate changes on its residential, buy-to-let, and product transfer mortgage ranges, with most of the fixed rates increasing from tomorrow. There is one piece of positive news, however, for first-time buyers with a small reduction on 95% LTV...
How a Mortgage Broker in Wandsworth Helped Renters Buy Their First Home
Buying your first home in Wandsworth can feel out of reach, especially if you’re renting and unsure whether you’d qualify for a mortgage. That’s exactly how our clients felt when they came to Oportfolio Mortgages. They had been long-term renters in Wandsworth and...
How Increasing Inflation Impacts UK Mortgage Rates
Rising UK inflation continues to keep mortgage rates higher than expected, impacting homeowners and remortgagers across the country. Learn how inflation and Bank of England decisions affect mortgage affordability, what this means for fixed and variable rates, and how to prepare for the future housing market.
Potential Mortgage Issues For Employed People
We're not going to lie, when we have a client who is permanently employed with a straight forward basic salary and straight forward contracted working hours, we do let out a small and quiet sigh of relief. Not because we can't help with more complicated income...
House Prices Drop For First Time In Over A Year
The Halifax House Price Index have released figures this week that show that in July 2022, house prices fell by 0.1%, the first reduction in house prices that they have seen in 13 months since last June. This drop in house prices, although not enormous, is...
Can I Get A Mortgage When Self-Employed?
Taking the leap from working for someone to being your own boss is exciting, scary, exhilarating, nerve-wracking, invigorating…all the emotions you can comprehend. Finally, being in control of your own income and own livelihood, to some people, gives you a sense of...
Metro Bank Makes Changes To All Mortgage Products
Metro Bank have announced that they will be making some pretty major changes to their mortgage products for residential, remortgage, and buy-to-let ranges. The London based bank has always been known as a metropolitan lender with competitive services aimed at...
Mayor Of London Demands Rent Freeze
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has come out this week to demand that a citywide rent freeze be imposed as inflation and the cost of living begins to ramp up. A rent freeze would mean that landlords and other businesses and organisations that let out residential...
Time To Snap Up Mortgage Product Runs Low
Official figures announced by Money comparison website Moneyfacts show that the average time a mortgage product is available to consumers is down to 17 days, meaning that lenders are pulling products at a rapid rate and people are missing out on the more competitive...
High-end London Properties More Popular Than Ever
Private bank Coutts have said that demand for 1 million pound plus high-end London properties in the country’s capital has increased in the last year despite the rest of the property market beginning to struggle. Coutts have said that 13% more of these types of...
BOE Set To Raise Interest Rates Again?
Today is crunch day as the Bank of England must now decide whether they will raise interest rates to unprecedented levels. This comes as the European Central Bank and the US Federal reserve have both done exactly that by raising borrowing costs to...
What Is A Mortgage Lender?
If you buy a property anywhere in the world, unless you are extremely fortunate, you will most likely need to use some form of home loan from a mortgage lender. It may seem self-explanatory to some people but what is a mortgage lender really? And what does it mean to...
FCA Highly Recommends That Homeowners Switch Mortgage Products
In the face of rising interest rates and a rising cost of living, The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that it would be extremely wise for banks, lenders, and advisor to encourage homeowners to switch mortgage products. Doing so could save you...
Are first-time buyers leaving London?
Latest figures released by estate agents claim that London’s first-time buyers leaving the capital to purchase their first home has increased by 1/5th compared to pre-pandemic figures. It seems that a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the risking rate of...
Amount Of Mortgages Being Accepted Fell In June 2022
The amount of mortgages being accepted fell in June 2022 in the face of rising cost of living and borrowers trying to stretch lending beyond their means. With rising inflation and economic struggles felt by the country, it was predicted that mortgage borrowing...
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