It is hard to get on the property ladder these days if you are a first-time buyer. House price rises over recent years have put buying a home out of reach for many young folks. Their only option seems to be to rent or carry on living at home.
When I began advising on mortgages in 1998, property finance was easy to come by. No wonder the property market was rising. Fast-forward to Buckinghamshire, 2016, and despite mortgages being harder to come by property prices are still rising.
As the dust settles after the BTL rush, lenders, investors and advisers alike will begin to cast their eye on the upcoming reduction in tax relief for landlords, due to come into effect from April 2017.
High Street lending is now approaching pre-crunch levels. Lenders who had effectively left the market by setting their rates and fees to unattractive levels are now back and competing with each other.
It's a common problem. You need to downsize but don’t want to move from your home until you have found a new one. You see the perfect property but it needs to be a quick purchase and your home isn’t even on the market yet.
It may sound a bit counterintuitive but structuring finance for cash buyers makes up a large portion of our business, so I thought I would put some of the reasons down as to why our clients may want to look at structuring some lending on their properties.