Boris Endgame…

I was about to sit and write one thing, but the alerts on my phone with events in the last couple of hours have changed that!

We know that Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Sajed Javid have resigned from Boris Johnson’s Government which is a remarkable turn of events – others will follow.

It is important not to speculate too wildly on what this means as there are so many ways this will play out, but no PM has lost a big Chancellor in this way and survived.

Although some think you can’t have another vote of no confidence, it seems they could potentially do this as some are already petitioning to get the rules changed so this could happen.

Boris could resign quickly and start a smooth handover process or grimly hang on and somehow survive, though it will be difficult to control Parliament and get policies through as backbenchers desert him. The worst option is he tries to call a General Election which would be a real showstopper.

At this stage, we must let the news develop rather than speculate, but either way, Government may be in paralysis in the short term and markets hate uncertainty.

For all of us, it’s business as usual and the next few days will be interesting. We will watch the markets and feedback accordingly.

Elsewhere the talk has been about 50-year mortgages which could be passed on to the next generation is another off-the-cuff idea that is all smoke and no substance.

In Japan, they had 100-year mortgages in the 1990s which were not massively successful, and here there are a whole host of issues as I talked about on LBC Radio last night.

Can the next generation afford it? When does it pass to them? What about when a parent can’t afford it in retirement? What about costs and flexibility? It is another demand-sided policy that could keep prices high and exacerbates the issue as fewer properties are sold if no one trades down.

On the other hand, some families will love this idea and it would solve the issue of some wondering how their kids will get onto the property market in the future. Long-term fixes will come to the UK in some description, but they are destined to be a niche rather than a mainstream product.

Finally, the average 2-year fixed rate is now above 3% – a truly remarkable change from less than a year ago, but lenders are still very much lending.

Have a great week! 😊

Best Mortgage Rates

In terms of mortgage rates, for standard residential mortgages, borrowers can obtain 2-year fixes at 2.63% (4.10% APRC) and 5-year fixes from 2.85%, (3.80% APRC), whilst variable discounted rates are around from 1.44%, (5.20% APRC).

Those looking at Buy-To-Let can now obtain products from 1.89%, (4.60% APRC) for a 2-year tracker or 5-year fixes are available from 2.94% (4.50% APRC).