Well, it’s hard to believe the new academic year has almost come to the end of its first term and Christmas will be upon us before we know it.
Family life seems to feel a bit more normal with the teenager doing his A levels. We are so proud of him! He’ll be finished and leaving home for Uni before we know it. Or maybe he won’t want to do Uni. Who knows?
When your child reaches an educational milestone, you can’t help but think back on your life. I remember when we bought our second property so that we had room for a family and how we scrimped and saved to get there.
Many people are willing to give up nights out and holidays so that they can move up the housing ladder. What would you be willing to give up? If you were to save the cost of a bottle of prosecco* every week, you would save an extra £468 every year towards your deposit. If you were to save this into a lifetime ISA, the government would further increase your savings by £117, meaning you could actually save £585 in one year! 😊
It is fairly common knowledge that the economy is in recession and the economic outlook in UK is uncertain. It may seem surprising, then, that both demand and house prices are rising. The stamp duty holiday introduced in July has certainly contributed to this and home movers, whose purchases tend to be more expensive, have benefitted most as first time buyers are exempt from stamp duty on purchases up to £300,000 in the majority of England currently.
It is also clear that the ongoing pandemic has resulted in many people rethinking how they live their lives and what they want from their homes; whether that’s more space for a home office or just to spend more time at home.
So, what’s the situation for home movers financing a move?
There are often special deals with low deposits for first time buyers but, as a “next time buyer”, it can seem more difficult to get the credit you need with a higher deposit usually required. Typically at least 15% equity (deposit) is common in onward purchases.
According to the Financial Conduct Authority, in its Commentary on Mortgage Lending Statistics, published in September 2020, the share of mortgages which completed in quarter two with loan to value (LTV) ratios exceeding 75% fell on the quarter to 36.5%, which is 3.2 percentage points lower than a year earlier.
Don’t despair, there is still help available.
The equity loan scheme, also known as Help to Buy, is still available to home movers buying a new build home, providing they complete on the purchase before 31 March 2021. You pay 80% of the purchase price with a mortgage and at least 5% deposit (your mortgage can be 60% in London) and the equity loan makes up the difference.
A myth is that the Help to Buy scheme is only available to first time buyers but that’s not true!
The loan is interest free for the first 5 years. In addition, if you complete on your home before April 2021 you won’t need to pay stamp duty if your purchase is under £500,000. 
And don’t forget that next time buyers often have enough equity in their current property to fund the deposit and other costs such as solicitor’s fees.
If you are thinking of moving and want to have a chat about your current situation to see whether a home move is financially viable, please get in touch.
There is no obligation and the initial discovery session to find out what you can afford is complementary.
*based on a £9 bottle of prosecco available from Tesco’s in November 2020.
Get in touch:
Heide Swift DipFA, CeMAP, CeRER
Swift Mortgages
heide@swift-mortgages.com
Hello!
