Under permitted development rights, you are allowed to extend or change your home without the need for planning permission. If you live in a designated area, then you will be restricted or prohibited from carrying out any changes. However, the general advice is that you consult your local planning authority about your proposed development before commencing any work. You might be looking to purchas... »
Unfortunately, once you get close to retirement age, your mortgage options reduce significantly. As a result of the new rules that came into force in April 2014, lenders have decided to close the shop on lending to older borrowers. It’s all about affordability! It’s very easy to jump on the media band wagon and accuse lenders of adopting an ageist policy to anyone over the age of 35, but let’s not... »
Kevin McCloud: “Building your own home isn’t a dream limited to just the rich or adventurous. Anyone can do it! Young couples, retired people, people working together in a group, the disabled – anyone, and the rewards are fantastic. The home you really want, designed to exactly match your needs and, typically, savings of between a quarter and half of the costs.” There are a... »
The traditional way is to sell your property and use the proceeds as the deposit for your new home. But what happens if you have not been able to sell your property and you have seen a property that you absolutely don’t want to lose. Are you in a position to proceed with the purchase of a new residential home when all your money (equity) is in your existing home? Subject to a number of factors ... »
If you are looking to invest in property, the experts will suggest you have a clear strategy from the outset. Once you have mastered a particular investment strategy, then you can start to diversify. Sometimes it’s best to just focus on one strategy and become an absolute expert. As they say: practice makes perfect. A particular property investor decided from the outset that his BTL strategy was H... »
If you’re moving home and about to apply for a mortgage then it’s fair to say that you are not a complete novice regarding how a mortgage works. Two year mortgage deals are always the cheapest. When you work out your monthly mortgage cost on a two year product, it will always look like a more attractive and enticing option as the monthly payments are lower. But just because something is cheaper do... »
Newly launched specialist BTL lender, Fleet Mortgages, provides more choice for experienced landlords. Experienced landlords that have used up all their life lines with certain lenders can now expand their property portfolio with Fleet Mortgages. Fleet Mortgages will lend on HMOs and to limited companies/special purpose vehicles (SPV)—a welcome relief, as we have been starved of variety in t... »
The 2008 global financial crisis led to the demise of a number of niche BTL lenders, notably: GMAC-RFC SPML Mortgage Express Igroup Edeus Bristol & West Rooftop UCB Homeloans Money Partners Preferred Mortgages Victoria Mortgages Unity Homeloans Capital Home Loans (CHL) Some of these lenders were offering 90% LTV BTL mortgages at 100% rental calculation. Fast-forward to 2015 and we are n... »
Household of Multiple Occupation (HMO) simply means a property that is rented out to more than one tenant. For example: a landlord renting a three bedroom house to five students. Each student will have their own bedroom but share bathroom and kitchen facilities. The landlord converts the lounge and dining room into bedrooms and charges £400 per month x 5 rooms = £2000. A single let is where a pro... »