Whilst the Bank of England surprised no-one last week as they once more voted 8-1 to keep the Bank Base Rate unchanged at 0.5% and the language of the minutes seemed to suggest that this will stay that way until at least the first quarter next year.
Despite the Governors rhetoric that things could still change quicker than expected it seems rates are going nowhere fast. This of course means that low mortgage rates are also here to stay and it looks set to be a busy end of year as lenders make a final push to the line to not only hit targets this year, but also to get a good pipeline start for next year.
Meanwhile, New Build mortgages seem to be the flavour of the day and we are seeing more and more demand and enquiries of this nature.
Lenders are finally coming round to the fact that this is perhaps the most important area to look at over the coming months and are starting to improve criteria around the whole area. Hence we now have lenders who have introduced new build priority processing services which is marvellous.
One lender for example can now extend the offers from 6 to 9 months, lend on flats in blocks up to 20 stories, consider S106 obligations and accept 5% builders deposits up to 85% LTV. More will undoubtedly follow.
Rate wise borrowers can still get a 2 year fixed at 1.29% (3.6% APR) and a 5 year fix from 2.19% (3.3% APR). Buy To Let rates are still available from an astonishing 1.73% (4.2% APR).