In the future customers taking out an Alliance and Leicester mortgage will find a range of interest rates on offer depending on the amount of money they are putting down as a deposit.
Last week the Alliance and Leicester introduced their new stance on mortgages, with a maximum of 90 percent loan to value available. However they also introduced a lower rate when the customer can put down a 25 percent deposit, basically making it a more attractive proposition for the borrower and at the same time reducing their own risk exposure.
It has been argued that the 100 percent mortgages did a lot to create the housing market price increases, since people could simply borrow whatever was needed, without having to put down any of their own money. Those days are gone it seems, so the Alliance and Leicester stance may well be repeated by other lenders over the coming weeks.
Good news for home buyers comes from the HSBC which is cutting both interest rates and fees on some of their fixed rate mortgage products.
The popular 2 year fixed rate mortgages offered by HSBC are to have their rates reduced by 0.31 percent, with an additional GBP200 taken off the admin fee. This takes it down to just GBP599. Some of the longer term fixed rate mortgages will also be reduced, with cuts of 0.16 percent.
As well as existing deals the HSBC mortgage department also has a new product to offer. A 5 year fixed rate mortgage with an interest rate of 5.98 percent is to be made available to any customers who have an HSBC Premier or Plus account. This new mortgage does have an arrangement fee of GBP999 with it.
Abbey National mortgage customers facing difficulties on the back of the credit crunch are being asked to consider taking in lodgers to make ends meet.
Across the country there are currently over 18 million households with an unused bedroom that could be offered out for rent. The average rental price paid for a bedroom in a house is just under GBP290 per month according the Abbey National figures and represents extra money that the homeowner could find very useful.
Anyone considering this option should ensure the terms of the mortgage are not being breached in any way and also that any insurance cover is still valid for the homeowners property. Abbey National expect there to be few problems but ask homeowners to check before going ahead.
