Financial Scams
Get Savvy Against Financial Scammers. Retired teachers Paul and Mary are devoted parents and grandparents to their three children and eight grandchildren. As their family started to grow, they decided they wanted to begin saving for their grandchildren’s future. Disappointed with the returns from their savings accounts, they decided to look into other investment opportunities. […]
The Value of Mortgage Advice
Lindsay and Sam have just found out they’re expecting their first baby. Although they’re excited at the prospect of starting a family, it’s come as a bit of a surprise and their current living situation is far from ideal. They’ve been staying with Lindsay’s dad in his two-bedroomed terrace for just over a year while […]
Mortgage Affordabilty
Improving your chances of passing a mortgage affordability assessment. The covid pandemic put things into perspective for Deborah. Before hand-sanitizer and facemasks became the norm, she and her boyfriend were living in a pokey flat while they saved up to buy a place of their own. As the pandemic took hold, they were both furloughed […]
Get on the property ladder with the Help to Buy Scheme
All you need to know about recent changes to the government’s Help to Buy equity loan scheme. If you’re looking to buy your first home, you probably already know about the government’s Help to Buy equity loan scheme. It’s proved popular since launch in 2013, with almost 300,000 properties bought as part of the initiative […]
Get mortgage fit for 2021
Estimates suggest that well over one million borrowers have lapsed onto their lender’s default standard variable rate (SVR). Has this happened to you? If so, now could be the perfect time to consider a remortgage, to get your finances in good shape for the year ahead. Do you know your mortgage rate? If your current […]
Do I really need a survey? Well, the short answer is yes.
Contrary to costs such as legal fees, estate agency fees or Stamp Duty, having your new home surveyed isn’t actually compulsory. However, with a property being the most expensive thing most of us will ever buy, the price of not having it checked by a surveyor could be devastating. If you buy a property for the seller’s […]
Get to know your SVR
As a nation, we aren’t great with our financial acronyms and terminology. Life is busy and our heads are often full of important things to get done to make it through the week, without having to worry whether we know our LTV from our ERC! You’re certainly not alone if you’re feeling financially flustered. Recent […]
Home improvements to add value to your home
Evidence suggests that many more of us are putting down roots and choosing to stay in our current homes for longer. The average time a homeowner in the UK stays in their property is 21 years. This contrasts with the 1980’s, when a fast-rising property market encouraged a move every eight years on average. However, […]
What you need to know about self-build mortgages
If you’re thinking of building your own home, financing the project may be high on your list of priorities. Self-build mortgages are different from normal mortgages. They release funds at stages during the building work, rather than in one lump sum when you complete a property purchase. Some lenders also extend a loan to help […]
The Bank of…Granny and Grandad?
For many younger people struggling to get a foot on the property ladder, the Bank of Mum and Dad is the only option. With rent taking a huge chunk out of their income and the requirement for increasingly onerous deposits, two in five renters do not believe they will ever be in a position to buy […]