Mortgage resuscitation required urgently!

The UK housing market will not recover until the mortgage market is fixed and expert advice at the Bank of England says, print more money in the hope of saving our economy from a long and drawn out recession is the answer. The Council of Mortgage Lenders says the number of UK households with mortgages is 11.7 million and has a value of over £1.2 trillion of these approximately 51% are fixed rate mortgages; 40% are on tracker, discounted or variable rate mortgages and less than 8% are on their lenders standard variable interest rate scheme. The mortgage market needs urgent resuscitation and repair to restore the banks lending confidence. We may have green shoots appearing across our economy but they don’t seem to have any roots yet.

A recent poll of 539 professional mortgage brokers by Exact Mortgage Expert suggested that house prices were likely to continue falling for the next six to twelve months and the housing market had not bottomed out yet. Many housing commentators feel that the market still has a further 6% to 7% to fall before we reach this illusive bottom is found. Lloyds Banking Group say that the decline in property prices this year is around17.7% with the average home now valued at £154,716. In the last year the average property value has plummeted by £33,264.

Sub-Prime borrower in Limbo

According to the latest Mintel, one third of the UK mortgage borrowers are facing financial difficulties and 1.5 million have fallen behind with their monthly mortgage payments. Those borrowers that have fallen behind with their repayments are considered by future lenders as sub-prime borrowers and they are offered less than favourable interest rates when they come to remortgage. There are now only two lenders remaining that will consider sub-prime or non-standard mortgages compared with the non-standard or sub-prime industry prior to August 2007 when the ‘Credit Crunch’ started. Whilst the lenders have disappeared the sub-prime borrowers have remained in limbo not knowing where to go or what to do and the number new recruits has swelled.

Since the rescue of the banking system by the Government last year and the sharp drop in the base rate by the Bank of England it seems that all the lenders have lost their appetite to lend money to homeowners and potential new borrowers. Lenders are nervous about incurring further losses and have drastically tightened their lending criteria. This means that borrowers are unable to refinance their homes easily and first-time borrowers now require a deposit of around 25% just to get on the property ladder. As a result of this large deposit being required many have turned to the bank of mum and dad for help in raising a deposit. The lenders have now become very choosy who they lend money to.

Finding a Mortgage

Borrowers looking for a new mortgage will find it impossible if they have suffered any adverse credit history within the last six years like:

A default issued by a lender, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement or a bankruptcy order.

1. Any missed credit card and any loan payments.

2. Any missed mortgage and secured loan payments.

3. Need to borrow more than 90% of the value of your home.

4. Falling house price.

5. In sufficient deposit to buy new home

Placing a mortgage is like riding in the Grand National

Mortgage brokers report that they are at their wits end trying to place mortgages with lenders in the current market. They liken the placement of a mortgage to being a jockey in the Grand National with all the steeple jumps needing to be jumped over to complete a mortgage application. Most lenders are inundated with mortgage applications which have slowed down their processing time. When finally they do look at the application three weeks later the payslips and bank statements are out of date and need to be updated. Then the valuers down value the property and the loan-to-value percentages changes and finally interest rates are pulled without notice. It’s a nightmare! To submit a mortgage and have it complete is a ‘rare occurrence’ and that’s assuming that you have jumped through all the hoops and met the lenders criteria.

Seek a Debt Solution if you are struggling!

For those borrowers that require a non-standard or sub-prime mortgage it may finally be worth looking at a debt solution as debt consolidation is no longer an option open for reducing your debt by using your home as a ‘Cash Machine.’ If you are struggling to pay your credit card debts and unsecured loans then it may be time to get out of debt and seek advice and help. You need to seriously consider a Debt Management, Individual Voluntary Arrangement or possible bankruptcy proceedings. Don’t be rushed and think carefully about what you are doing. Always speak to your credit card and loan providers to see what they can do to help you first