Well, it had to happen at some point this week we've seen a number of lenders reducing their rates, which is very good news for those looking to buy or remortgage.

Lenders like The Mortgage Works, Platform, Godiva and Northern Rock have all reduced their buy to let products in the last week, and some by up to 0.5%.

The residential mortgage market is experiencing an even greater amount of competition which is fantastic news for you, and seems to reflect a greater appetite for lending and increased competition in the market.

This should hopefully have a knock-on effect with the other lenders most notably BM Solutions who seem to have cornered the 75% LTV market for months now.

So, the question is have we reached the end of the mortgage ice age? And are we at the beginning of the long thaw (sorry that is an hackneyed analogy but I couldnt think of anything else!)


TIP OF THE WEEK 1: No rental needed from valuer

Just to let you know we have a lender that, at 70% loan to value, will enable you to use an ARLA letter or a bank statement as proof of the amount of rent received (or in the case of new build the amount of rent that will be received.

You will need a minimum income of £35,000, and the rental fit is 100% at 8% - Ouch!

It also works where you have a property that has 5 bedrooms but 4 professional sharers/students (as opposed to BM Solutions who wont touch

TIP OF THE WEEK 2: Get your offset/flexible mortgages whilst you can

Theres one residential lender who has come out with an absolute fantastic offset lifetime tracker at 2.47% over base rate.

Im not going to tell you the name of the lender here but I will give you a clue - dont expect your mortgage offer before 3 months!

Using offset mortgages has always been a tried and tested way to give yourself your own credit facility. For example, you can instantly draw down the funds, buy a property for cash, refurbish it, remortgage it after 6 months and then replenish your funds to fight another day!

Oh, and you can also get flexible buy to let mortgages, but sadly not at 2.97%!

As always, call one of our advisors today for more information 01424 205 373