Eight in 10 mortgage holiday borrowers now making payments

Eight in 10 mortgage customers who have previously taken a payment holiday are now back to making full repayments, according to UK Finance.

Some 130,000 mortgage payment holidays were in place at the end of December 2020, which is down from a peak of 1.8 million in June last year.

It means that, across the UK, one in every 84 mortgages was subject to a payment deferral at the end of last year, compared with one in six in June 2020.

Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance, said: “With new lockdown restrictions in place, the banking and finance industry is continuing to help customers through these challenging times, including by providing tailored support appropriate to their needs.

“It will always be in the long-term interest of borrowers to resume making payments if they are able to do so.”

Self-employed see one in six mortgage applications rejected

One in six (17%) people say they were declined for a mortgage because they run their own business, are sole trader (15%) or they are a director of a limited company (14%), according to specialist mortgage broker platform Haysto.

Despite record levels of mortgage applications, the number of rejections is also on the rise. Being turned down for a mortgage can have a devastating impact on people. Almost a third (31%) claim they were left feeling depressed, while 29% state they were treated unfairly.

The research also showed that over a third of Brits – 35% – feel they could not get a good mortgage deal for themselves and so would not want to go through the stress of applying or are unlikely to apply at all for fear of being rejected.

Paul Coss, co-founder of Haysto, said: “Getting a mortgage when you’re self-employed can be difficult, as mortgage lenders tend to prefer people in full-time employment because it’s easy and simple to understand their income. Being self-employed, your income isn’t as straightforward, and people shouldn’t be penalised for that.

“Despite self-employed people usually earning more money than if they were on a salary, mortgage lenders just aren’t set up to deal with complex incomes.”

The Nottingham re-launches 90% LTV mortgages

The Nottingham has relaunched its 90% LTV mortgage products.

Five-year fixed rates start from 3.45% with a £999 product fee or 3.70% fee-free.

The Nottingham has also introduced new mortgage products at 80% LTV. A two-year fixed rate is available at 2% with a £199 booking fee and £800 arrangement fee or 2.3% with no fee. A three-year fee-free fixed rate is also available at 2.60%.

At 85% LTV, the Society has launched a 2.9% three-year fixed product with no fee. A two-year discount mortgage is available at 2.2% with a £199 booking fee and no early repayment charges.

Nikki Warren-Dean, head of intermediary sales at The Nottingham, said: “We’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to be able to bring back 90% LTV mortgages.”

Skipton launches fee-free BTL remortgage offer

Skipton International has introduced a temporary fee-free initiative for all UK buy-to-let remortgage applications.

The bank has removed its one-off remortgage application fee of £2,999 for any UK buy-to-let owner who wishes to remortgage with it.

The fee-free offer, which runs until the end of February, applies to all new UK buy-to-let remortgage applications. A property valuation and legal fees will still be required to be paid for by the applicant.

Roger Hughes, business development manager of Skipton International, said: “At Skipton we are always seeking ways to enhance our mortgage offering to UK buy-to-let. We hope the fee free saving will encourage many more to turn to Skipton.”

Shawbrook announces a series of rate reductions

Shawbrook has reduced rates across their buy-to-let product range by up to 0.55%, as part of on-going plans to enhance their offering throughout 2021.

The most significant cuts have been made to the specialist lender’s ‘Large HMO’ proposition (HMO properties with 7 occupants or more), with rates starting from 4.34%.

Gavin Seaholme, head of sales at Shawbrook’s property finance division, commented: “This is the first of many steps in our plan to evolve our offering this year, and one we hope is well-received by the broker market as they seek specialist Buy-to-Let options for their clients.

“Following recent positive changes to our bridging product range, we’re pleased to be doing the same in the BTL and HMO arena, once again showing our commitment to the specialist market.”

Landbay has enhanced its entire range reducing rates on all products.

The buy-to-let lender has also launched a new range of remortgage-only products with free valuations and lowered the rates on its 80% LTV mortgages so they now start at just 3.79%.

It has introduced a new large loan product, with a £750 cashback, maximum £1.5m loan, up to 70% LTV at 3.49%, on a five-year fixed rate.

Meanwhile its standard two-year fixed rate products start from only 2.95%, and the five-year fixed rate products starts from 3.34%. It also offers a range of free valuation products across its standard two and five-year products for remortgages.

In addition to the standard and large loan products, Landbay has launched an improved HMO special edition range, enhancing rates and criteria on HMOs to six bedrooms. Rates now start at 3.35%.

Paul Brett, managing director of intermediaries at Landbay, said: “Despite the stamp duty holiday deadline looming on the horizon, the start of the year has seen a tremendous demand for buy-to-let.”

He added: “To meet this rising demand, we have completely refreshed our range and improved our already market leading offering. Our range now includes products with free valuations, free title insurance, cashback options and special HMO products, so we have a product to fit almost every client’s needs.”