For many individuals, owning a home is a lifelong dream. However, purchasing a house often requires financial assistance in the form of a mortgage. When considering a mortgage, understanding the relationship between income and affordability becomes crucial. This article aims to shed light on this important aspect of the home-buying process.

The decision to choose between a shorter mortgage term and overpaying on a mortgage can have a significant impact on your financial future. Both options come with their own set of benefits, and understanding them can help you make an informed choice. Let's delve into the advantages of each approach.

For someone who is interested in both the housing market and the potential of blockchain technology I recently came across the idea of virtual worlds or ‘Metaverses’. Such ‘worlds’ you may have seen in films such as Tron, Ready Player One or even any of The Matrix films.

Many people I have spoken to have concerns house prices will fall. I personally don’t think they will. The main factors that affect the property market are supply/demand, the economy and employment and interest rates. There is still a lack of instructions being listed with estate agencies and I have many clients still looking for a suitable home.

You may have seen information in the media recently regarding ‘Green Mortgages’ and wondered what it’s all about?

The UK government, like most governments around the world are trying to encourage people and companies to be more energy efficient.

Following the government’s announcement in the budget on 3 March 2021 that they will support 95% loan to value mortgages for launch in April, some mortgage lenders have in advance of this have launched some 95% mortgages over the last couple of weeks. This is fantastic news especially to first time buyers. It means if you buy a property for £200,000 you now may only need £10,000 deposit.

It depends on whether you are going from one employed job to another, going from employed to self employed, or you have had a gap in employment. We’ll look at each scenario in turn.

Welcome to my first ever video podcast, vlog or as I like to call it – ‘Bobcast’.

Today I am going to be talking about fear and how that might affect the mortgage and property market.

Reasons why you may wish to consolidate your debts

Firstly, you may be struggling to meet your mortgage payments, loan and hire purchase payments, minimum payments on credit cards and your bills. This may be the result the level of unsecured borrowing accumulating over If you are struggling to manage your mortgage payments, loan/credit card payment

I was first asked this question in 2015 from a client of mine who was moving home and there was evidence of Japanese Knotweed both inside and outside the boundary. I knew little about it at the time. I have since come across other properties that have had possible evidence of Japanese knotweed. So why do lenders have concerns about it and does Japanese knotweed affect mortgage lending?

Mortgage lenders have a requirement that there must be a minimum term remaining on the lease agreement at the outset, or at the end of the mortgage term, or sometimes both. That varies between mortgage lender. Some lenders require a minimum of 85 years remaining at the outset, some are 70. Some don’t mind as long there is 50 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term for example.

An offset mortgage is quite simply a mortgage with a linked bank account, usually a savings account and rather than you get interest on the money sat in the account it reduces the interest you pay on your mortgage.

Back in January after having eaten too much lovely food over Christmas and already looking forward to brighter days after another wet and windy autumn I was very much looking forward to what I consider my favourite time of year – Spring. Who would have thought that Monday March 23 would not be remembered primarily for the Spring Equinox but for the first day of lockdown.

I am asked this question a lot at the moment. People are wondering whether property prices might fall if things don’t return to normal if there are future lockdowns, and if there are large parts of the population that might lose their jobs after the government’s furlough scheme ends and the second and final payment to the self-employed sole traders (where eligible) ends after the August payment.