Brunel Independent Mortgages

Lenders have been reshuffling their mortgage deals on an almost daily basis in recent weeks.

There was a 20% fall in the number of mortgage offers available in just one week.

Big-name providers have been withdrawing offers or putting up the price of a mortgage, claiming they have been swamped with requests on competitive deals.

The credit crunch means that banks and building societies are less keen to lend to each other and do not want to overstretch themselves by taking on new custom

So what does this mean to the average household?

In simple terms as a first time buyer you will need a a larger deposit as 100% deals are pretty much non-existent. For those people with an existing mortgage it means less choice of new deals. That doesnt mean to say there arent good deals available. This means it is now more important than ever to get good truely independent advice when arranging a new mortgage.

Many lenders have recently changed their lending criteria. They are now offering lower loan to value products and some rates are less attractive. This is all as a result of lending in America where bad debts have fallen into arrears. This means that investors who would have bought ‘mortgage books’ from lenders are now asking for lower risk mortgages. It is now more inportant than ever to take professional advice as the number of mortgage products available has roughly halved over the last six months. There are many individuals who are coming off of low incentive deals this year and they should really be speaking to an advisor about a new deal three months before their current scheme expires.