Whether you are looking to buy your first home, move home or remortgage then there are bound to be plenty of options open to you and that is certainly the case at the moment. 

Several lenders have relaxed their affordability rules in recent months. Nationwide in particular have reduced the minimum income floor meaning more people are eligible for one of their mortgages. 

 

Many have increased the borrowing limits so even if you got rejected previously it may be worth exploring your options again now. 

First-time buyers struggling with mortgage affordability can tap into the flexibility offered by 40-year maximum term deals to cut their mortgage costs, new figures show. 

 

Mortgage borrowers could save £255 per month by choosing a 40-year term, compared to a 25-year term deal when borrowing £250,000, based on the Moneyfacts Average Mortgage Rate of 5.05%. 

 

However, those monthly savings come at a cost and borrowers with lengthier mortgages will make monthly repayments for longer and incur paying considerably more mortgage interest overall, so making overpayments to reduce the term and interest incurred is wise. 

 

Borrowers with a 40-year term could then choose to overpay their mortgage, as and when they can afford to do so, reducing the mortgage term without being on the hook for a higher repayment every month. If borrowers with a 40-year term can afford to overpay by £200 per month, it could shave almost 13 years off the mortgage term, saving them around £123,000. 

The government has introduced a new, permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme. The scheme will be available to lenders from July 2025, helping to support homebuyers with a deposit as small as 5%. 

 

Consistent availability of 95% loan-to-value mortgage products helps to support prospective homebuyers with a small deposit. The new Mortgage Guarantee Scheme is permanently available from July 2025, aiming to incentivise and sustain availability of 91-95% loan-to-value mortgages by providing participating lenders with a government-backed guarantee, insuring them against a portion of their potential losses on those mortgages. Mortgages offered through the scheme will enable eligible first-time buyers and home movers to buy a home with a deposit as small as 5% throughout the United Kingdom. 

Some of us will remember lenders providing 100% mortgages before and in some cases even higher than that but the property market crash of 2008 saw the losses hit hard and new regulations introduced at the time bought an end to that kind of irresponsible lending. 

Now they are back. 

 

A relaxing of certain rules has led to some lenders bringing the 100% mortgage back to aid those people who are able to pay a mortgage but struggle to save the deposit. There are strict conditions attached so make sure you fully understand the potential pitfalls. 

The past two-weeks has seen several lenders introduce lower mortgage rates across a wide range of their products. 

 

Speaking with an independent financial advisor can ensure that you are given a wide range of options that best suit your requirements. 

 

For those whose existing mortgage is coming to an end it may be you can switch to a new product earlier than your current term ends whilst for those who already have an offer in place and are currently in the process of buying a property it could mean a better deal is now available. 

The Bank of England meet again next week, and it is widely predicted that there will be a further cut in the base rate with another to follow later this year. 

 

We will of course bring you the decision as soon as it is announced with our thoughts on what it may mean for the property market moving forward.