Your Brief Mortgage Update for May

Positive news for borrowers as mortgage providers return to offering higher loan to value products!

The reduction in bank base rate means that lenders are still offering the lowest possible rates across the board from trackers to fixed rates. Plus there are very small margins between the various fixed-rate periods. It is no longer expensive to pin down a 5 year rate.

Whilst there was an initial reaction to Covid 19 by lenders lowering loans to value, most are now back in the market with increased loan to values. Indeed HSBC really never left the market and are still happy to lend up to 90%. Some of the big players like Halifax and Nationwide are back at 85% lending.

As physical valuations are no longer possible in the short term, lenders are doing everything possible to accommodate the valuation on an 'automated valuation' basis. Valuation criteria does vary varies between lenders, but in most cases, a mortgage can still proceed using this method of valuation.

So lenders are still very much in the market, with an appetite to lend. Whilst it's not totally business as normal, mortgages continue to be submitted and processed. Indeed, lenders are trying as hard as possible to accommodate normal business and are happy to extend mortgage offer dates if required due to these unusual circumstances.

The Robert Bell & Company Team