Bank of England’s looser mortgage lending rules

by | Jun 24, 2022 | News

Mortgage affordability tests introduced after the financial crisis are being ditched by the Bank of England.

The guidelines were issued by the Bank in 2014 to help tighten the mortgage market after the loose selling of home loans contributed to the financial crash six years earlier.

But after consulting with industry bodies, the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee has decided the existing loan to income (LTI) ratio limits will be enough to prevent large numbers of borrowers defaulting on their mortgages.

So, from 1 August lenders will not be expected to apply the affordability test or ‘stress interest rate’ (if rates rise) when assessing potential mortgages, only using the Financial Conduct Authority’s more general Mortgage Conduct of Business.

In statement the FPC said the new guidelines “ought to deliver the appropriate level of resilience to the UK financial system, but in a simpler, more predictable and more proportionate way”.

Time-On-Market returns to pre-pandemic level says RICS

by | Jun 24, 2022 | News

Selling a home – the period from listing to completion – is now back to its pre-pandemic levels of 16 weeks according to agents contributing to the latest RICS survey.

It reports a net balance of +16 per cent of respondents saying they had seen an increase in new buyer demand, up from +9 per cent in December and the strongest reading since the height of the Stamp Duty holiday in May 2021.

However the market remains unusually active and strong.

Data from Time-On-Market returns to pre-pandemic level says RIC… (estateagenttoday.co.uk)