News

Many First Time Buyers are teaming up to buy homesGetting onto the property ladder continues to be a challenge for younger generations, as 63% of first-time buyer (FTB) mortgage completions1 are in two or more names.The cost of buying a home is significantly more expensive than a decade ago for the average FTB, who is 32 years old. For those purchasing their first home, deposits are an average of 67% higher than 10 years ago and house prices are up 86%. Despite the living wage going up to reflec...

Many homeowners don’t have income protection Only 2 in 10 UK homeowners have income protection1, even though it’s likely to be needed at some point in a person’s life. Take a 35-year-old woman who is a non-smoker – for her, there is a 4% chance of death, but a 34% chance that she will be unable to work for 2 months due to illness2. Don’t rely on savings or sick pay With income protection, you wouldn’t need to use savings if you were off work. Besides, 42% of working adults t...

Are interest rates about to plummet? Having barely shifted since last autumn, many analysts expect that interest rates may start edging down. What will that mean for mortgage borrowers and anyone looking to remortgage? Time for a fall? Most analysts agree that interest rates have peaked but there is less consensus on exactly when they will start to drop. One forecast1 has suggested that Bank Rate rates will remain at current levels until June this year, when a series of cuts will se...

Welcome to our latest local property market update. Comparing quarter one of 2024 to the same period in 2023, the number of properties available for sale increased by 1149, totalling 6855 within the areas we cover. Over the same period, new instructions to the market increased by 320, and sales agreed increased by 541. The increased number of available properties has had a noticeable impact on the market dynamics. We are seeing a rise in properties reducing their asking price, and the nu...

Welcome to our latest local property market update. Comparing quarter one of 2024 to the same period in 2023, the number of properties available for sale increased by 1149, totalling 6855 within the areas we cover. Over the same period, new instructions to the market increased by 320, and sales agreed increased by 541. The increased number of available properties has had a noticeable impact on the market dynamics. We are seeing a rise in properties reducing their asking price, and the nu...