Bereaved families being denied mortgage holidays

Prices saw an uptick for the first time since the lockdown began, according to the latest Halifax house price index, growing on average 1.6 per cent after months of decline and stagnation.

UK Finance insists ‘all customers’ can put off mortgage payments if they ask. But brokers say those in need are increasingly being denied – especially if they are requesting their second mortgage holiday.

The agent, which today posted a £9.4million operating loss, announced plans for a pilot to test a ‘hybrid system’ of a reduced flat fee plus commission.

While Help to Buy in its current form will still end in March next year, house builders will now have an extra two months to finish building properties eligible for the scheme.

A range of lenders increased their rates on high loan-to-value mortgages last week, even though the Bank of England interest rate has remained rock bottom at 0.1 per cent.

Stepping out into the brave new world of house hunting is daunting in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Toby Walne finds out what it is like.

Pent-up demand after a spring freeze combined with Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty giveaway, has boosted parts of the housing market but is it wise to buy or sell now?

The number of deals available has continued to drop over the past month, despite lenders like Nationwide and Coventry Building Society reintroducing products.

Glaxosmithkline was on the up after an independent panel in the US encouraged regulators to approve the company’s experimental therapy for a common type of blood cancer.

‘The bounce back in prices reflects the unexpectedly rapid recovery in housing market activity since the easing of lockdown restrictions,’ said Nationwide.

A challenge led by law firm Teacher Stern is seeking to secure fairer charges for these borrowers, but pre-action talks are still going on more than two years later.

An agent that you don’t have to meet face-to-face in a high street branch may seem more appealing than ever, but could saving money using an online agent end up costing you in the long run?

According to a survey, 89 per cent of students and 91 per cent of parents would like such a break clause automatically included in all student tenancy agreements.

Research shows that almost a third of households have ended up paying for a professional when DIY tasks have failed.

The FCA has given banks the green light to deny mortgages to customers who have taken loan holidays during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lisa Welcome (pictured) was refused a mortgage.

The Social Market Foundation is proposing a 10 per cent tax on the gain made from a rise in house prices when a property is sold, or when it is inherited after the owner’s death.

Nationwide and Metro Bank will offer 90 per cent loan-to-value deals after they were axed during lockdown. Nationwide cited the Chancellor’s stamp duty holiday as a factor behind its decision.

Government advisers have proposed a raft of new radical reforms in its final report on a review of the sector two years in the making.

The property portal said the average asking price of homes coming to the market in Britain is 2.4 per cent, or £7,640 higher, than before the lockdown at a record £320,265.

The free-to-use app was launched in April. It uses new ‘open’ banking rules that permit it to scrutinise a person’s banking and credit card transactions and then recommend cheaper deals.

Buyers without large deposits have been hit by a mortgage crunch this month as banks and building societies pulled high loan-to-value loans.

While lockdown may in part be over, a lot of the new property-buying conventions might be sticking around for some time. So what does the new future of buying a home look like?

After the stamp duty holiday gave the property market a boost, Nationwide stepped back into the 10% deposit mortgage market.- but with rates hiked.

It’s not illegal to sell protected land but there are some marketing it as land that could be allowed future development rights when in fact there is slim chance that this would ever be approved

The Office for Budget Responsibility said prices could fall 2.4 per cent this year and 11.7 per cent next year. That would push the average price down from around £230,000 to below £200,000.

Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society, and fellow giant Coventry BS have said they will offer up to 90 per cent loan-to-value deals once more.

Enquiries from house hunters have surged since Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the nine-month tax cut in his mini-Budget summer statement on Wednesday.

How do the new and old rates of stamp duty compare and how much could you save in buying a home? We crunch the numbers below.

Can we now claim back this tax since we missed out on the new stamp duty holiday by just a few days?

The deal, known as the ‘Fix and Flex’, lets borrowers fix their rate for five years, but unusually charges you for leaving early in just the first three years of the deal.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research has warned that it does not expect house prices to return to pre-pandemic levels until ‘at least’ 2023.

Around 1.8 million homeowners have taken a three-month payment break since the lifeline was announced. Borrowers have until the end of July to extend current holidays by a further three month.

Saffron Building Society is offering environmentally conscientious homeowners the chance to save money on their mortgage by making their homes greener.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reported to be considering plans to wipe out stamp duty paid on homes bought for less than £500,000 to help boost the economy.

In a single day on 28 June, 1million searches were carried out by people via Rightmove for properties abroad, but it remains to be seen the extent to which wanderlusting turns into cash for sellers.

Older people often live in properties that are too large and unsuitable for their needs while young people struggle to find a home of their own.

Whilst building a conservatory used to be the most convenient way of adding space to your home, ‘shoffices’ are usually much easier and quicker to install – even if they cost a similar amount.

The deal, which is available up to 60% loan-to-value and carries a £999 fee, is the first of its kind to offer 10 years of payment security for an interest rate under 2%.

Just some 9,300 mortgages to buy homes were handed out in May, down from around 15,800 in April, some 56,100 in March and 90 per cent below the February level, the Bank of England said.

The number of mortgage deals available to borrowers with a 15 per cent deposit has almost halved from 664 to 357 since March, according to analyst Moneyfacts.

Property website Zoopla said sales agreed over the past four weeks have bounced back to just above pre-Covid levels, with the bulk of the rise in northern cities.

A rising number of lenders have ended 5 per cent and 10 per cent deposit mortgages. The move has left many young buyers ‘effectively barred’ from the housing market.

Banks and building societies have pulled more 10% deposit mortgage deals in the past four months than in the entire first year of the financial crisis.

Property sales will slump more than previously expected and remain subdued into next year, estate agent Savills has warned, as it issued new house price forecasts

There are currently several niche mortgage deals on the market that may help a first-time buyer struggling to find the right 90 per cent loan-to-value deal.

Hereford and places further north like Wigan, Rochdale, Wilmslow and Bolton have all seen surging demand among prospective buyers over the last fortnight, new research shows.

Mortgage lenders Nationwide, Santander, Clydesdale Bank, TSB and Halifax are all offering the chance to transfer in advance without exit fees, making substantial savings.

Asking prices in June were higher than in March despite dire forecasts of a collapse in house prices.

Experts say they have seen a surge in misleading advertising from agents who promise to sell properties within weeks.

A swathe of would-be buyers looking to relocate to the country are driving the premium end of the housing market, said property listing website Zoopla.

Some 1.8million homeowners have opted to take a mortgage holiday since the lockdown began in March, but many may not need to extend.

The fall took the average house price in Britain to £237,808, the lender said – this is 2.6% higher when compared with the same time a year earlier.

A friend of mine had their house repossessed in late February, just before the lockdown began. Can he stop his lender from selling while house prices are so low?

Borrowers applying for a mortgage to buy a home or remortgage should get prepared but they can save money.

In May, the average cost of a home fell by 1.7 per cent month-on-month, marking the sharpest decline since the depths of the financial crisis.

The boss of Britain’s second largest mortgage lender said first-time buyers and those stepping up the ladder into their second home would be deterred from purchasing in the midst of a recession.

As property prices are expected to fall as a result of the coronavirus I do not want to complete the transaction and buy the property.

While the recent flurry of activity shows promise, property industry insiders say the housing market is still frozen in its tracks. Why? Because nobody knows how to value homes accurately.

A property raffle has added a £30,000 car to its original prize pot of a £500,000 London flat in a bid to tempt more customers to purchase tickets.

Your lender has the right to reassess your finances at any time that it pleases, meaning that if your situation changes dramatically they could withdraw their offer.

Homeowners who have deferred their mortgage payments are being warned against a debt binge after the go-ahead to extend mortgage holidays by three months has been approved.

Many university students are being threatened with legal action from letting agents and private landlords unless they pay for accommodation. Jack Clarke, with his father Phil, has lodged a complaint.

The impact of coronavirus is still being felt in the property market – from nervous sellers to buyers trying to scoop a possible bargain.

The scheme, initially set up in March, has been extended so that the deadline for applying for an repayment break is now 31 October, with borrowers eligible for a break of up to six months.

In April there were 38,060 transactions completed, which is less than half the number seen at the same point a year ago, HM Revenue & Custom’s latest figures suggest.

We have spoken to property experts across the country to help you navigate the confusion.

Individual deals have been cheaper in the past, despite the Bank of England slashing base rate to a record low of 0.1 per cent

Rics member estate agents said they expected house prices and sales to fall in the months to come

Knight Frank said prices had probably already fallen 5%, as the Government revealed the property market can reopen immediately.

The Government said estate agents could restart viewings and home moves could go ahead again, but how will this work? We explain.

The ballroom has now been moved to the bidder’s homes with a live stream taking place on the Savills website and bids being taken from those on the phone, by proxy and through the internet.

We don’t want to gazunder the seller, but also we don’t want to harm our own finances and pay over the odds at a time of economic uncertainty.

Property values were down by 0.6% in April compared to March, the biggest fall since March 2018, according to the latest data from Halifax.

One company has come up with a plan that allows homeowners to give chartered surveyors a virtual tour of their home without breaching social distancing guidelines.

Getting the deal done looks set to become a tag-line for the property market as transactions remain on hold and more people look to move outside of big cities like London and Birmingham.

Nationwide warned the outlook for the market remains ‘highly uncertain’, while Lloyds’ worst case prediction is a 30% fall over two years.

RICS, the industry body for surveyors confirmed it will unveil ‘practical guidance’ to enable home valuations to restart safely.

Property website Zoopla said some 373,000 property transactions are stuck in the pipeline as people are effectively stopped from moving home.

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, that quintessentially British question is inevitably being asked: what will happen to house prices?

House price inflation slowed from 1.5 per cent in January to 1.1 per cent in February, the Office for National Statistics and Land Registry index reported

Lockdown will result in the loss of 526,000 home sales this year if there is no intervention – starving the economy of at least £14.3 billion, says Knight Frank.

Industry insiders have claimed that some lenders have already started to automatically decline applications for those who have taken a payment holiday.

The crash will be driven by the rental sector as the amount tenants can afford to pay plummets due to wage cuts and unemployment. Yorkshire and East Anglia look like being the hardest hit.

Getting a new deal will take longer, as lenders are struggling with huge demand from anxious customers requesting repayment holidays on their loans.

Some of the big names are taking online orders and doing click and collect , but be warned there were queues of an hour to even get onto the B&Q website on Good Friday.

Lenders have cut a staggering 47 per cent of all mortgage deals from sale in a move not seen since the credit crunch, pushing up rates for buyers without a large deposit.

There were 5,239 products available before the Bank of England made this year’s first base rate cut from 0.75 per cent to 0.25 per cent on March 11. Now there are 2,768, according to Moneyfacts.

The typical home value was £240,384 in March, according to the Halifax index – meaning prices were at a standstill last month. It remains to been if they hold-up during the coronavirus outbreak.

Lenders have pulled up the drawbridge in recent weeks and those put on furlough may face difficulty when applying for a mortgage.

The Accelerate My Mortgage scheme is a new service, rewarding borrowers for shopping with some of the UK’s best-known retailers, including Asos, Sports Direct and John Lewis.

Those who need to remortgage soon have been hit by a ruthless culling of deals for those with less equity in their homes.

The latest Nationwide index painted a picture of the UK’s property market before coronavirus hit, with the average house price up £3,500 in a month.

Estate agency Savills predicts a drop in house sales from an estimated 1.06million properties to just 495,500, leading to a drop in receipts of as much as £4.78billion.

There are some 1,585 fewer residential mortgages now available than there were just three weeks ago, according to financial experts Moneyfacts.

Craig Aynsley, 46 from Northumberland, has been unable to work for five years after two separate battles with cancer – but thought his life had turned a corner last year after finding his dream home.

The Government has now released guidance on what to do if you’re in the middle of a move. So should you move house, delay your purchase, or pull out of the sale completely?

Those in the middle of the buying process, such as Susanna Wood and Tom and Daniella Matthews pictured, told us they are now unsure whether they will be able to move as planned.

It is not clear to what extent the banks have moved due to staffing issues and a wave of customers requesting mortgage holidays, or a concern house prices could fall.

Estate agents, mortgage brokers and banks have a headache right now, while buyers, sellers and those due to move home don’t know what on earth will happen.

In the year to January 2020, the average cost of a home rose by 1.3% to £231,000, against a boost of 1.7% in the year to December, according to the ONS.

Homeowners facing financial difficulty due to coronavirus were told last week that they would be able to take a ‘mortgage holiday’ where they can suspend repayments for up to three months.

The property listing website has offered estate agents a 75 per cent discount for the next four months as the housing market looks set to grind to a halt amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Lenders have warned borrowers looking to take advantage of a three-month coronavirus mortgage holiday are cancelling direct debits without speaking to them.

House prices could slump as the economy and property market takes a hit from people being forced to stay at home, warn stock market analysts.

Around five million households in the UK live in private rented accommodation and many of these could struggle to pay the bills if they need to take time off work.

The majority of mortgage lenders had yet to pass last week’s base rate cut onto their customers, even as another one arrived yesterday.

Base rate was cut again today to 0.1%, but a week after it was slashed to 0.25 per cent, to help battle the financial effects of coronavirus, there has been little movement in new fixed rate deals.

The price gap between the first and second rung of the UK property ladder has more than doubled since the global financial crash, according to Land Registry data.

Yorkshire and the Humber, London and East Anglia saw the ‘strongest momentum’ for house price growth in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ February report.

Plans to cut stamp duty were not in the Tory manifesto, but there were hopes that they would be slipped back in during the Budget.

MPs today issued an open letter calling for a halt to repossessions against mortgage prisoners until a until a ‘solutions working group’ is established.

The average purchase price of a first home with a Lifetime Isa was £248,000 was last year, according to data from the first provider to offer one. But what does that get you in the most popular postcodes?

House prices rose 2.8 per cent in the year to February, with the average property gaining £6,443 to reach a record high of £240,677, according to mortgage lender Halifax.

Barely were my feet back under the desk in 2020 before I was bombarded with emails telling me I could be entitled to compensation for a mis-sold mortgage.

The lender says it will give £1,000 to borrowers who improve their property’s energy rating within a year of buying the home or remortgaging.

Bristol is the most popular spot for first-time buyers purchasing their home with the help of a Lifetime Isa, This is Money can reveal, according to figures from the first provider to offer the savings scheme.

Approvals, which are an indicator for future borrowing, rose to 70,900 in the first month of the year, some 4.4 per cent higher than in December.

The cost of the average home edged up by £200 in February to £216,092, according to the Nationwide index, with house price inflation reaching 2.3 per cent.

The Competition and Markets Authority today said it was concerned that leasehold homeowners have been unfairly treated and prospective buyers could be being misled by housing developers.

The house is valued at €300,000. We’re unclear as to what the tax implications are for us once the money from the sale comes through.

David and Clare White certainly didn’t expect to find themselves renting in their 50s. But after their children left for university, they decided to sell their family home in Chester and move to London.

There are 18 providers offering 74 deals – up from just 36 this time last year. The average interest rate charged has fallen slightly from 3.5 per cent to 3.47 per cent , according to moneyfacts.co.uk.

Selling a home can be a stressful experience, particularly if it has been on the market for months and there has been no whiff of an offer.

Some 102,810 home sales transactions were recorded last month, some 4,080 more than in December and 5,120 more than in January last year, according to the latest figures from HMRC.

Proposed changes to inheritance tax could make it more costly to help children onto the housing ladder, with a proposed 10% tax levied on sums above £30,000 given away each year.

Victory for the Tories in the General Election has delivered a shot in the arm for the housing market. Experts say the momentum is likely to continue building up over the next 12 months.

Thousands of buy-to-let landlords are poised to throw in the towel and sell their properties in the coming months as they lose yet more generous tax breaks.

Renewed optimism after the election, and the return of potential buyers who had put moves on hold, has led to the traditional spring house hunting bounce arriving early, said Rightmove.

A flawed system for notifying homeowners when their interest-free period has ended means thousands are now in arrears, many potentially without knowing it.

There has been ‘a noticeable pick-up’ in the housing market since Boris Johnson defeated Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in December, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.

Most applications are approved. Around 86% get their planning permission applications granted, according to analysis of government data.

The UK’s financial watchdog introduced rules in October that would make it easier for mortgage holders trapped on high rates to switch.

A property raffle has claimed it is ‘the first in the world’ to keep its promise of guaranteeing a London flat as the top prize ahead of the draw – even if it doesn’t sell enough tickets to cover its overheads.

House prices have only ever been as expensive as they are now compared to wages twice in the past 120 years, but surprisingly before that they were considerably more costly, a deep dive shows.

Net mortgage borrowing grew to £4.6billion in December, some £400million more than the average for the previous six months, according to the Bank’s Money and Credit report.

It’s no secret that some parents adopt all manner of tactics to ensure their children have the best chance of being admitted to a good school. But what are the costs and risks of them backfiring?

Arguably, the best thing that could happen over the next decade would be for homes to get less expensive, preferably through house prices stagnating and wages rising.

In its first full month’s house price report since the election, Britain’s biggest building society said cheap mortgages and a ‘healthy labour market’ helped a ‘modest pick-up’.

Demand for homes for sale across the UK’s biggest cities has jumped by more than a quarter at the start of the year as prices hit a near two-year high, Zoopla said.

Banks slashing rates and house hunters taking advantage of a buyer’s market helped boost mortgage lending in December, despite uncertainty in the run-up to the election.

The building society has cut the required amount a borrower must earn to qualify for a like-for-like remortgage with the group by almost a third.

The average price of newly-listed homes for sale jumped 2.3 per cent to £306,810 in a month, as the traditional New Year bounce combined with post-election confidence.

Sainsbury’s Bank is under pressure to guarantee that its mortgage customers won’t be sold to a ‘vulture fund’ or private equity firm.

Numbers crunched by mortgage broker Private Finance reveal that picking a ‘bonus-friendly’ mortgage lender could add a significant chunk onto the amount some workers could borrow.

The number of five-year fixes on offer for those with a bigger deposit is now even greater than the number of two-year deals, which have traditionally been the most popular mortgage-type.

Approximately 39,200 retrospective planning applications have been filed since 2017, around 35 a day, according to insurer Churchill.

The 2010s were the weakest decade for house price growth since the 1990s, new research has revealed.

Analysis by financial data experts Defaqto shows a couple who borrow £50,000 could save up to £38,000 over 20 years by opting for a retirement interest-only mortgage instead.

Halifax’s house price index showed the average property climbed £9,136 last year to £238,963, but the bank said that it only expected ‘modest’ rises in the year ahead.

House prices in Britain are a much-talked about subject – and a borderline obsession for some. But after a rollercoaster ride in the past decade, what will happen next?