If you spent your Boxing Day finishing off the turkey sandwiches and browsing dream homes on your phone, you certainly weren’t alone. The property market has just woken up to its busiest start in history.
Three in five first-time buyers depend on the bank of mum and dad in order to get onto the property ladder, according to research by Just Group. In the last five years, 61 per cent of FTBs relied on financial help from relatives in order to purchase a property. In comparison, just 20 per cent of FTBs relied on financial assistance from relatives 30 years ago.
Understandably, recent market turbulence has prompted an influx in homeowners reaching out to their lender or mortgage broker, over concerns about monthly payments and what will happen once their fixed-rate mortgage deal ends. It seems that we all have plenty of mortgage questions that need answering right now. Here we address a few of the most pressing mortgage questions as best we can, to shed some light on what the future holds for your mortgage.
As the price of energy rockets, generating solar power and using it within your own household now offers a far bigger saving than it used to. Not only can solar panels reduce your energy bills, they can also improve your carbon footprint, too. More and more people are remortgaging their current properties releasing equity to fund home improvements in the hope that the value of their property will increase in the long term. However, remortgaging could also be an option for funding solar panels. Solar power might not only increase the value of your property, but also tick the box for homeowners looking for an energy efficient house to reduce energy bills.
Remortgaging a property can bring, typically, many advantages to homeowners from saving money by switching to a more competitive rate, to providing an opportunity to release funds from your home to carry out home improvements. But with the UK base rate having risen to 1.25%, the highest it’s been since 2009 - are homeowners heading for a stampede when it comes to securing new mortgage products to secure new rates?
We are all well-versed in the prevention of plastic pollution in the home. But are you aware of the often ‘hidden’ impact of manufactured goods in our houses taking their toll on our home environment and our health? Here are some quick fixes for each room in your house that will help you get that much closer to a sustainable home environment.
