Mortgage Affordability Set to Improve

Over the last few years, one of the biggest barriers to home ownership has been mortgage affordability. The good news is that the Bank of England have announced that they are consulting on plans to make affordability checks less stringent.

This year, the Bank of England will consult to scrap the current rules which requires mortgage applicants on all types of mortgages to prove that they can pay their lender’s higher standard variable rate mortgage plus 3% on top.

This has prevented many people who are able to afford the mortgage they are applying for from being given an offer, blocking their ability to purchase a home.

Despite this, the Bank of England has rejected calls to allow lenders to increase the number of mortgages they offer whereby people need to borrow in excess of 4.5 times their salary. Some lenders are, however, making moves to offer mortgages up to 7 times their applicants’ salary.

Last year, Nationwide was one of the lenders that offered a mortgage loan-to-income ratio to 5.5 although this deal is limited to just 5,000 households. Other lenders have followed suit and announced that they will offer more of these mortgages to professional applicants including firefighters, police officers, NHS clinicians, teachers in the public sector.

If you are looking for your first home, we have a range of suitable properties for sale at Pollokshaws Living, Pennywell Living and Laurieston Living and at present, you can reserve for just £99 until the end of February. Contact us to find out more or contact each of our Developments at:

Pennywell Living
Pennywell Road, Edinburgh, EH4 4NL
T. 07940 992182
E. pennywellliving@urbanunionltd.co.uk

Pollokshaws Living
Pollokshaws, Glasgow
G43 1LY
T. 07498 057112
E. pollokshawsliving@urbanunionltd.co.uk

Our Marketing Suite is open Thursday to Monday 11am to 4pm.

Laurieston Living
Off Bedford Street, Glasgow, G5 9LQ
T. 07498 057114
E. lauriestonliving@urbanunionltd.co.uk