NowMyNews

Buy-to-let landlords are staging a dash to remortgage as interest rates fall but the recent mini-boom property investment is running out of steam, new figures show. The number of buy-to-let mortgages taken out in the first three months of the year was up 4 per cent annually, according to the latest Council of Mortgage Lenders statistics. In the same period last year buy-to-let mortgages were growing at 30 per cent annually, however, the rapid pace began to tail off last summer. Buy-to-let mortgage advances: The pace of the rise in the number of new buy-to-let mortgages being advanced has slowed, CML figures show. While the number of buy-to-let mortgages being taken out has risen substantially since the 2009 to 2010 slump, they running at less than half the level seen at the peak of the boom in 2007. The CML said that almost half of buy-to-let lending was currently remortgages and property investors now accounted for 13.4 per cent of outstanding mortgages in the UK. CML director g

Thanks to the complicated variety of rates and fees on offer it can be hard enough working out whether a mortgage is a good deal, but inaccurate adverts slipping through the net are making things worse. The adverts have prompted industry insiders to question whether the new financial regulator will clamp down. Since 6 April the Financial Conduct Authority, has been responsible for checking financial promotions are correct. However, lenders and homebuilders seem to be getting away with incorrect information. The Post Office has since corrected its advertising mistake. Inaccuracies have been spotted in several adverts. One was a Post Office advert promoting a five-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.63 per cent, available up to 60 per cent loan-to-value. After the fixed rate expires, the mortgage reverts to a tracker with the revert-to rate stated as 4.49 per cent, which is described as ‘Bank of England base rate plus 3.9 per cent’. The Post Office sells Bank of Ireland mortgage products

Key public sector workers have seen the ability to purchase their own home continue to improve and near a level last seen a decade ago, research has found. Those in the public sector, such as nurses, police officers and teachers, can now find affordable property in 38 per cent of towns, compared to 36 per cent in 2012. And while that may still exclude buying in most locations, it puts them in a far better position than near the peak of the property boom when just four per cent of towns were considered affordable for them. The Halifax research, based on the benchmark ratio of average house price to average earnings, where the property is considered affordable to buy if the ratio is below 4.0, says the improvement has come largely as a result of house price falls in northern areas.  Affordability still remains below the 2003 level when the average house was considered to be affordable in 43 per cent of towns.   More... The first-time buyer's guide to getting a mortg

French mortgage costs are at historic lows and borrowers there can access rates far more stable than those available in the UK. But recent tax changes have created hazards for British buyers - so is now a good time to buy in France? According to property group Athena Advisors, competition between French banks to attract domestic borrowers has pushed mortgage rates to 0.25 points below those seen at the end of World War II. What's more, non-residents can access these historic low rates with a 20 year fixed rate mortgage at 3.35 per cent and 20 year tracker mortgages from just two per cent. French dream: Moving across the Channel is popular with Brits - with mortgage rates dropping, is now a good time to buy? Nicholas Leach, from Athena Advisors, says: ‘The European Central Bank has remained stable so these new rates are simply down to the fierce competition between the banks for the best applications. ‘These are the best rates investors have seen for over 65 years so it’s no

When landlord Luigi Gianino rented out a detached family house in a quiet residential area in Suffolk, he had little cause for concern. The tenant, a smart-suited Chinese businessman with a wife and son – and a BMW parked in the driveway – appeared to be the height of respectability.   The fact that he was able to put down a cash deposit and commit to a tenancy agreement only added to his credibility. But four months later, acting on a tip-off from a neighbour, police raided the four-bedroom house and Luigi discovered the investment property he had lovingly restored had been turned into a cannabis factory, growing plants with a street value of £150,000. ‘It was like a jungle,’ says the  41-year-old from Willingham, Cambridgeshire. ‘I’d spent thousands refurbishing the house only to find everything had been ripped out and replaced with cannabis plants. ‘There were huge ultraviolet lights in every room, each with a newly fitted power socket, bypassing the meter and drawing power straigh

Homes for sale which have been reduced in price since first coming onto the market have fallen to the lowest level for almost three years, research has revealed. The proportion of homes for sale which have their asking price lowered at least once has fallen to 30.7 per cent, down from 34.3 per cent a year ago, according to property website Zoopla. It says this is a further sign that 'confidence and strength' is returning in the property market. It marks the third successive three-month period in which the proportion of reduced properties has fallen, indicating home sellers are more likely to get the asking price they have set. Yorkshire properties: According to research, homeowners in the Northern county are the most likely to have lowered prices to push through a sale The amount by which asking prices are being discounted on average has also been slimmed to 6.1 per cent – the lowest level of cuts since November 2010. But the North-South property divide has continued acco

Under fire: Bank of Ireland The Bank of Ireland may have acted illegally when it increased tracker mortgage rates for 13,500 borrowers by up to 122 per cent. Trackers are supposed to rise and fall in line with the Bank of England base rate, which has been at 0.5 per cent since 2009. But Bank of Ireland, which is the banking partner of the UK Post Office, invoked a clause in contracts that it says allows it to scrap tracking and raise rates when it wants. Some landlords’ rates more than doubled. Rises are effective this month. Justin Selig, of the Law Department, a London firm specialising in commercial and property litigation, is acting for 100 borrowers. Rather than going direct to court, he wants to try other avenues such as the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Office of Fair Trading first.    More... JEFF PRESTRIDGE: These pension 'liberators' need to be put in jail 'I've been left to fight Bank of Ireland in court:' Financial watchdog rocked by recor