Welcome to our Springtime Spread the Word. We’re all pleased to have lighter, brighter days and, fingers crossed, some sunshine ☀️

We hope you all had an enjoyable Easter. For many, it’s an opportunity to put your feet up and sample some of the Easter Bunny’s finest treats! For others, it is an excellent chance to crack on with gardening and DIY! Spring is always a popular time of year to sell your house or decide to move. Typically, it takes around six months to buy and move into a new home. So, if you want to be in your new abode by the end of summer or early autumn, now is the time to start looking and getting your financial affairs in order!

5-Star Feedback

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5-Star Feedback ⭐️

5-star Reviews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We’re kicking off this month’s Spread the Word by celebrating our 5-star client feedback. Our newest team member, Dan Hemblen, is proving incredibly popular with his clients, as are Olga, Helen, Julian and Peter. We love reading your comments and genuinely humbled by your kind words. Thank you to everyone who has left us a review 🫶

Serving our clients with personalised advice is our number priority! We have over 190 5-star Google Reviews. Have a read for yourself 👇

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mortgage NEWS & UPDATES

Spring Budget 2024: What’s in it for homeowners

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget on 6 March—but which announcements, if any, will impact landlords, mortgage borrowers, and those keen to become homeowners? We take a look...

The government has ‘missed an opportunity’ to stabilise the housing market and improve prospects for would-be homebuyers in today’s Spring Budget.

That’s the verdict of mortgage and property experts following the speech delivered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Headline crowd pleasers included a cut to National Insurance, changes to the child benefit system to make it fairer and ISA reforms.

But when it came to property and mortgages, there was less for homeowners and those looking to move up, or get onto, the property ladder to get their teeth into.

There were expectations the Chancellor would announce a 99% mortgage scheme, but this proposal had been pulled earlier this week. Meanwhile, the long-awaited stamp duty reform many people had been hoping for failed to materialise.

Virgin Money and Halifax team up with Own New for low new-build rates

Virgin Money has teamed up with Own New to offer reduced mortgage rates for new-build customers to make such purchases “more accessible and affordable”.

The lenders will offer cheaper mortgage rates for new-build customers and the rate-reducer product, in conjunction with partner Own New from 26 February by using incentive budgets to lower monthly mortgage payments over a fixed term.

For some new-build buyers with high deposits or equity, rates below one per cent are available. Gen H, Furness Building Society and Perenna have confirmed that they will be offering mortgages via the scheme.

Homeowners on SVR mortgage could save £504 with fixed rate

Homeowners on a standard variable rate (SVR) mortgage could save themselves up to £504 a month in payments if they switched to a fixed rate, data has shown.

Analysis from Compare the Market found that based on a five-year fixed mortgage of £254,507, the monthly payment would be £1,394 at the average rate of 5.18 per cent.

This is compared to the average SVR, which was 8.17 per cent in February, according to figures from Moneyfacts. Borrowers on an SVR on the same mortgage loan would be paying £1,898 a month.

In total, homeowners could be saving £6,048 a year in mortgage payments.

Even at a higher rate of 5.56 per cent for a two-year fix, borrowers could still save £5,316 a year or £428 a month by switching from an SVR.

Managing your mortgage after divorce or separation

Divorce or separation can be a traumatic experience, especially if there is a joint mortgage to consider. Our team has experience in helping couples in this situation. We have divorce and separation mortgage capacity appointments available now.

🏡 Keep up your repayments - Both you and your partner are responsible for the repayments. Moving out of the home does not remove your legal obligation to keep up repayments.

🏡 Be open and honest with your lender - Contact your mortgage lender as soon as possible to update them on your circumstances – especially if there are issues with repayments.

Joint mortgage options following a separation or divorce
1. Take over the mortgage yourself
2. Be bought out of the mortgage by your ex-partner
3. Sell up and go your separate ways
Each option will involve dealing with your existing or a new mortgage lender, an independent valuation of your home to determine its current worth, and the proportion of the house you are entitled to.

🏡 Benefits of speaking to a broker - Mortgage brokers remove a lot of the paperwork and hassle of arranging a mortgage with access to fantastic products and rates often not available to the public.

Whilst this might be a new experience for you both, Stratton Thorpe has years of dealing with divorce and separation mortgage clients. We're here to help.

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Average asking prices rise 1.5 per cent in March – Rightmove

The average price of newly marketed properties has increased by 1.5 per cent in March, compared to the prior month, to £363,118. According to Rightmove’s House Price Index, the monthly increase in asking prices is above the typical one per cent uptick in the period, which is the average for the last 22 years.

The report noted that the monthly increase is the biggest monthly rise for 10 months and shows that the market “continues its recovery after a muted 2023”.

The annual increase came to 0.8 per cent, which is up from 0.1 per cent in February. The firm noted that average asking prices were £4,776 below the peak in May 2023, which had led some to see more of a “window of opportunity to buy”. It added that the number of sales being agreed was 13 per cent up on this time last year.

Buyer demand is also eight per cent above last year’s figures, which it attributed to the “less-mortgage-rate-sensitive larger homes sector and London”, with agreed sales 18 per cent higher than last year.