Mortgage lenders have warned that there may be a shortage of credit in the coming months, leading to many first time buyers unable to secure mortgages.

The Council of Mortgage lenders has said that government schemes to keep mortgage lending afloat end in 2014, leaving a funding gap of £300 billion.

Before all the economic problems of the last few months, the gap between what the banks took in savings versus what they lent out was covered my the wholesale market in mortgage debt. However when the world financial markets were hit in 2007, the UK government was forced to plug this gap with the special liquidity scheme and credit guaranteed scheme.  Read more... (173 words, 1 image, estimated 42 secs reading time)

Despite experts claiming that the housing market is slowly showing signs of bouncing back, some sellers are still finding it hard to shift their properties whilst some potential buyers are still unable to find mortgages. And this is where the rent-to-own scheme comes in.

The rent-to-own scheme, sometimes also known as lease-option, works well for both parties. The buyer normally puts in around 5% of the purchase price of the house plus pays slightly over the odds for their rent. The standard amount of rent goes straight to the home owner, whilst the additional rent is used as a down-payment for the property.  Read more... (501 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Overpaying your mortgage, particularly now when interest rates are low and therefore mortgage payments have decreased for those on tracker mortgages, could reap rewards in the long-term by substantially knocking down the amount of interest that you pay in total on your mortgage.

The base rate has tumbled and those who overpay their tracker mortgages may find the interest they pay over the term of their mortgage is significantly reduced. Home owners with a mortgage of £150,000 may have seen their mortgage payments fall by as much as £500 a month over the last year leaving them with £500 extra money per month.  Read more... (282 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Latest figures show that over a million home owners are currently in negative equity. The Council of Mortgage Lenders has collated data from the UK’s banks and building societies to analyse February’s mortgage state.

Around 565,000 homeowners have equity of 5% of less in their property and another half a million have under 10 percent equity in their home. All these homeowners may find it difficult to remortgage as many mortgage products now require 10% equity of more on new mortgage deals.  Read more... (215 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)