First Mortgage News

Contractor mortgages are often regarded as a more complex subject and something of an uphill struggle for those who apply for them. One of the main reasons behind this is that contractors are not regarded as your regular type of employee. Their income patterns are typically irregular and are often not guaranteed for a significant […]

Buy to let lenders who are members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), have agreed to a new statement of practice, which is intended to “provide clarity about how responsible buy to let lenders operate”. Initially 31 lenders, accounting for approximately 90% of the buy to let market, have already embraced the statement, with […]

New LBTT Rates Replace Stamp Duty Changes to the rate of property tax payable in Scotland came into effect from 1 April. With the new Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), anyone purchasing a property costing less than £145,000 will not be paying any tax, an increase of £20,000 on the previous threshold.This is certainly […]

The Scottish Government’s decision to revise its rates and bands for the new property tax is welcome news for many first time buyers and home-movers alike. The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) comes into effect from today (1 April 2015) and will result in more than 50% of all household transactions paying no tax […]

Higher loan to value (LTV) mortgages, especially 95% LTV lending were virtually nonexistent after the financial crisis. Since then, and particularly in the last two years, there has been considerable change within the mortgage market, which has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of mortgages available with a deposit of just 5% – the […]

In the 2015 Budget, the Chancellor, George Osborne announced the introduction of a Help to Buy (HTB) ISA, which is due to launch in Autumn this year. The scheme is only available to first time buyers and each buyer is only allowed one HTB ISA during the lifetime of the scheme. The ISAs, which will […]