Private tenants are routinely being ‘conned’ by letting agents imposing unjustified fees for providing a poor or nonexistent service, a report from the Citizens Advice said today. It said that it was dealing with 6,000 tenants’ complaints a year regarding letting agents, and that the behaviour of some is ‘out of control’. The report has
Research from the National Association of Estate Agents has revealed that nearly one in four people claim they are unable to get a mortgage due to the tighter lending criteria being used by banks and building societies. More than half of those asked believed that they would have more change of getting a mortgage if
Meanwhile Abbey National, the country’s second-largest mortgage lender, has announced that it will relax lending criteria on its most popular loans tomorrow. It is lowering the minimum deposit required for its best fixed rate deal from 40 to 30 per cent. The move comes as the Bank of England said that recovery in the economy
Figures from ROOF’s Affordability Index show that despite house price falls, first-time buyers are still locked out of home ownership as the level of deposit required soars. The average price for first-timers is almost £30,000 less than last year, however, deposits have doubled to more than £30,000. And lack of mortgage finance was not the
Kate Barker, a government adviser on housing and member of the Bank of England’s rate setting committee, has said that mortgages which leave buyers with a risk of negative equity should not be banned and banks that demand huge deposits may have been ‘overdone’. She said that banks over-reacted to the credit crunch by withdrawing
Homebuyers will be prevented from borrowing more than three times their annual salaries under new mortgage rules to be announced this week. As part of a package of banking regulations, 100 per cent mortgages will also be banned. Prospective homeowners will have to provide a deposit of at least 5 per cent, but many banks
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said lending has started to pick up again after the number of home loans for house buyers rose by 4 per cent in May. In year on year figures this is still 28 per cent lower than a year ago. The CML said that nearly three-quarters of new mortgage
The National Association of Estate Agents has accused the government of doing too little to help first-time buyers into the market and undermining the chance of a housing recovery. Research by propertylive.co.uk found that while the cost of mortgage finance has fallen to a record low, lenders are asking for such large deposits that the
For first-time buyers and remortgagers just getting a mortgage remains difficult, however. The moneyextra.com mortgage index showed that lending to first-time buyers with deposits of less than 5 per cent was non-existent while the supply of borrowing for those with 10 per cent cash to put down has decreased by 84 per cent compared to
Lender Britannia has boosted the mortgage market after introducing a new home loan offering 90 per cent loan to value. Available from today, the two-year fixed rate mortgage requires only a small deposit, seen as essential to help first-time buyers into the market. Nationwide has also announced it is launching tomorrow a new two- and