The fact that some lenders are increasing their fixed rates this week suggests that people are catching on and taking up the offers, resulting in the lenders repricing against the demand.

The base rate is likely to stay put for a while, so don’t expect any sudden drastic movements with mortgage lenders interest rates, but at the same time, those borrows currently happily sitting on nice standard variable rates should begin to consider if now is the right time to get fixed in while the rates are here.

A small increase in monthly payments now may be the price you have to pay in order to protect yourself against increasing interest rates in the future.

For existing homeowners, there are also some new market leading 3 and 4 year fixed rate products at 85% LTV with a refunded valuation.

For those wanted a shorted rate control period there is the option to still have a refunded valuation on the 2 year fixed deals with £995 fee at 65% and 75% LTV. Remortgage customers still benefit from a refunded valuation and either £200 cashback or Mortgage Transfer Service.

The product rates are:
- at 65% LTV – 3.64%
- at 75% LTV – 3.89%

For advice on these and other mortgages available click here.

 The amount of Buy to Let mortgages available has increased by nearly 60% since what was available at the end of last year, according to the most recent mortgage tables.

This follows recent speculation that current lending criteria left no room to manoeuvre for the novice landlord. However, this reported growth in buy to let mortgage availability will surely result in increased competition between lenders, which is likely to relax the currently restrictive criteria, such as minimum deposits of 25% and higher basic salary figures for borrowers. BTL mortgages were amongst the first products to suffer from the credit crunch and house price slump, so maybe any signs of improvement in criteria may be a sign of a house price recovery? Watch this space!

Latest Buy to Let Mortgage Rates start from 3.25%. For current criteria please click here.

Bupa Individual Protection is extending its award winning critical illness policies to offer customers more cover, fairer pricing and no age limits for a wide range of conditions.

Bupa was the first company to introduce premium reductions for excluded conditions on cancer and multiple sclerosis because it believed that it was unfair for customers to pay for cover they could not claim for. Bupa has now extended this concept to include cardiovascular and diabetic conditions. Customers could benefit from a reduction of up to 45 percent.

People who suffer a critical illness abroad may now no longer need to fly back to the UK to confirm a diagnosis. Instead, they can be diagnosed at one of Bupa International’s 5,500 accredited hospitals and treatment centres around the world.

Bupa Individual Protection has also removed the age limit for conditions including Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Motor Neurone disease. The age limit for the waiver of premium and total permanent disability benefit has been increased to 70 to meet the needs of an ageing population.

Two partial benefit payments have been added - for low-grade prostate cancer and mastectomy in the presence of ductal carcinoma in situ - and self-inflicted injury is now the only general exclusion.

Commenting on the enhancements, Steve Casey, Bupa Individual Protection’s product and marketing manager said: “These improvements reflect our commitment to offer simple to understand yet comprehensive critical illness cover. By removing age limits for many conditions and utilising our international coverage, we have made our product even more accessible, flexible and relevant to more people.”

These enhancements follow the recent increase in the cover available on Bupa Individual Protection’s critical illness products. Personal customers may now be eligible for up to £2 million of level cover while business protection clients may be eligible for up to £3 million.

Newbury Building Society:
Completion end dates rolled on 1 month for fixed remortgage products and 3 months for fixed purchase products.

Nationwide:
New tracker range launched with £495 reservation fee.
Maximum loan size of £1m for new borrowers up to 60% LTV for two year tracker rates.

BM Solutions:
Buy to Let 3 year fixed - rate reduced by 10bps and LTV max increased to 75%.

The Mortgage Works:
Self Cert – 2 year remortgage product increased by 10bps.
Buy to Let – reductions on all 1, 2 and 3 year fixed rates (between 10bps and 30bps).

Northern Rock:
Intermediary exclusive fixed rate product reduced by 10bps.

Direct
Cheltenham & Gloucester (Direct)
New 5 year fixed rates launched for existing C&G customers.
End dates on all products have been rolled on to 31st August.
Completion deadline dates have all been rolled on to 11th September 2009.

Cambridge Building Society (Direct)

New Shared Ownership and Family Loyalty Bonus products launched.

Leek (Direct)
New Buy to Let SVR 5.19% product launched.

Alliance & Leicester (Direct)
3.95% five year fixed rate product withdrawn.

Royal Bank of Scotland (Direct)
New fixed and tracker rates launched.

Chelsea (Direct)
New 10 year 4.94% fixed rate launched with maximum LTV 75%.
Current 10 year fixed rate increased by 15bps to 4.74%.
2 year tracker rates increased by 20bps.

So why should I use a mortgage adviser?
 
Well look at it this way. Do you do your own plumbing? What about your electrical wiring installations or gas safety checks? Did you arrange your own pension? And what about buying a house? Would you do all the solicitor work yourself?

I’m guessing that most people would answer no to most of these questions, and there is a very good reason for this. There are professional people out there who are competent at performing these activities and who are trained to perform these tasks to a high standard on your behalf. So why do it all yourself, right?

I know what you’re thinking, these people want to be paid! Yes I guess they do. But what if these services were available at no cost to yourself? I doubt whether you’d think twice about using these services if this were the case?

So why should you use a Mortgage Adviser? Because they can offer a professional, unbiased service which saves you time and stress, and all this is available on a no fee basis. A professional service, at no cost to you?

That’s just one reason why you should talk to an independent mortgage adviser.

Please click here

So how does this affect those of us with mortgages? Well, in short, if you have a tracker mortgage then you’re still laughing. For now at least anyway.

So what should we do to make the most of the continuing low interest rates?

As LTV’s (loan to values) increase due to the fall in UK house prices, home owners who have benefited from lower monthly payments should consider making overpayments to compensate by reducing their loan amount. This should provide some assistance towards maintaining lower LTV bands and to help borrowers to qualify for the best interest rates available once it’s time to remortgage. People opting for this strategy would also benefit from the obvious knock on effect of reducing the years remaining on their mortgage term, and therefore could potentially save them thousands in interest over time.

So what about those less desirable fixed rates that some of us signed up to over the last couple of years? Well if you have less than 15% equity in your home then you’re no worse off than before since these mortgage rates are currently at similar levels, so no harm done. However, lower interest rates are now available for homeowners with greater levels of equity in their home, so maybe paying those dreaded early repayment charges and remortgaging to deals with a cheap interest rate is the way forward.

Finally, there are those who are clinging onto those terrifically low standard variable rates after coming to the end of their fixed rate or tracker mortgage deals. A word of warning is needed here, however. Mortgage payments may be low for now, and standard variable rates may remain low for some time to come, but at the same time house prices continue to fall thus eroding our equity and potentially pushing us up a tier in LTV bands towards the higher interest rates, or even towards negative equity. Maybe now is the time to review your mortgage afterall?

The message? Understand where you are with your mortgage now, and plan for what might be around the corner. We may not be able to control the economy or interest rates, but we can educate ourselves in preparation for what may lie ahead. Talk to an Independent Mortgage Adviser to understand what options are available.

The Mortgage Works is celebrating after being voted best Buy to Let Provider at this year’s Business Moneyfacts Awards, which took place last week in London.

In addition to picking up this highly coveted accolade, The Mortgage Works was also highly commended in the Best Service from a Buy to Let Mortgage Provider category.

A highly trusted source of information, Business Moneyfacts scrupulously monitors products throughout the year to help them judge their annual awards, with intermediary feedback also contributing to lenders’ overall position.

Larry Banda, managing director of The Mortgage Works, said he was grateful to intermediaries for their continued support. He said: “We always strive to offer intermediaries the best products and service possible, and these awards serve as recognition of that commitment. We look forward to continuing to support our intermediary partners throughout the next financial year.”

For information on TMW Buy to Let
mortgages click here

The Mortgage Works

Latest News:

More lenders want larger deposits

Research highlights confusion over advice

Making the most of the 0.5 per cent world

Huge increase in demand for advice

Guardian warns of ‘unethical’ fee structures

more introducer news..

Scottish Building Society:
Have reduced their SVR by 0.20% to 5.04%
Have introduced a new 5 year fixed rate

Astra:
Minimum floor rates increased from 1% to 3% on all discount products
Introducted a new SVR product with redemption penalties and a reservation fee
Reduced SVR by 0.15% to 4.85%

Abbey:
SVR reduced by 0.45% to 4.24%
All product end dates and completion deadlines rolled over by one month
75% 5 year fixed purchase product reduced by 0.10% and a fee of £299 introduced

Cheshire Mortgage Corporation has made various criteria changes which include the following:
Income Calculation & Criteria revised
Minimum employment period revised
Board and Lodgings – no longer accepted
Property Types revised
Income Proof revised
Maximum Age revised
New Proof of Residency Requirements
Explanations required for all arrears, CCJs and defaults
Address history requirements revised
Valuation requirements revised

Northern Rock::
Selected 2 Year Fixed rates reduced by 0.10%
2 Year fixed rate exclusive with £1,995 fee reduced by 0.10%
L&G exclusive 3 year 65% LTV product reduced by 0.10%

Alliance and Leicester:
Launched a new 5 year fixed rate at 5.79%

Marsden:
Fixed and tracker rates have increased by average of 0.10%
End dates changed on most products

National Counties Building Society:
Will no longer lend on an interest only basis without a suitable repayment vehicle

Woolwich:
Launched new Homebuyers Direct products. These are shared ownership/shared equity government schemes that have a max LTV of 70% but where the customer can borrow 90% of their share. Products are available through intermediaries.

For advice on these and other mortgages, click here