First Time Buyer Education & Lender Service Levels – Monday Mortgage Update

There have been some interesting stats put out over the past few days, including the fact that a total of 69,000 first-time buyers have claimed stamp duty tax relief.

This is according to figures published by HMRC since it was waived for First Time Buyers on the first £300,000 for those purchasing up to £500,000.

Across the country, the average first-time buyer saved £2,300 on the purchase of their property, whilst in London, they have saved an average of £4,300.

This is all very helpful for many, but where education is concerned there is still so much more to be done. According to another recent survey, 25% of new buyers believed any stamp duty was paid by the vendors, whilst two-thirds of FTB’s surveyed thought that the Estate Agent or surveyor did all the legal searches.

Financial literacy and education is something we are passionate about here at Coreco and are looking at ways to help spread the word and educate the next generation of home buyers. We now have an excellent First Time Buyer presentation that we take round to firms to help educate their staff and we are happy to present this elsewhere if you have any requirements.

“service is sometimes more important than rate”

Meanwhile, lenders are being plagued with service issues as you may have read with the TSB IT system meltdown, but other lenders are having service issues too. As ever it is important that client know that service is sometimes more important than rate, especially when they need to exchange quickly. If you have any questions about service then please of course ask us and we will be happy to help.

In the general rate world, 2-year fixes are available at 1.39%, (3.58% APRC) and 5-year fixes from 1.83%, (3.72% APRC) whilst variable discounted rates are around from 0.97%, (4.40% APRC).

Those looking at a Buy-To-Let mortgage can still obtain products from just 1.37%, (4.67% APRC) for a 2-year fix.

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