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Scunthorpemoneyman Covid Update

Rishi Sunak’s second Budget as Chancellor brought two pieces of welcome news for the property sector as the Government attempts to transform “Generation Rent” into “Generation Buy” to help stimulate the UK economy, namely the new 95% Mortgage Guarantee and an extension of the Stamp Duty Holiday.

95% Mortgage Guarantee

The name of this scheme is misleading as not everyone that applies is guaranteed to be offered a mortgage, it is still subject to affordability and credit score. The “guarantee” itself is that the Government will ensure Lenders don’t stand a loss if they grant a 95% mortgage to a customer who then subsequently falls into arrears and is repossessed leaving behind negative equity.

This scheme should in theory give Lenders more confidence to lend even though the applicant only has a smaller deposit to put down. Of course, Lenders never want to repossess someone’s home unless it is the last resort, but if that happens then the new scheme would cover any shortfall.

Lenders have been worried about the prospect of home values decreasing so this measure should alleviate that concern although of course, the chances of negative equity occurring will naturally reduce should property prices increase as a result of these announcements!

The scheme is available to both 1^st Time Buyers and Home Movers, it’s available on any property (not just new build) and will run until December 2022. Some major High Street Banks have already signed up to the scheme and it’s likely more will follow later on. It’s still a big challenge for Lenders to cope with the demand they are getting for mortgages due to the difficulties training and supervising staff working from home but they will want to offer as many of these mortgages as they can.

Stamp Duty Holiday Extension

When the Stamp Duty Holiday was launched last year we all hoped life would be very much back to normal by the cut-off date of 31^st March 2021 but things didn’t pan out that way as we know. Solicitors are struggling to keep up with the workload and if lots of chains had collapsed then it would have partly defeated the object of the exercise.

Therefore it was good to hear the scheme has been extended to 30^th June for purchases up to £500,000 and 30^th September for purchases up to £250,000.

The Government certainly sees the property sector as an area that can play a big part in our economic recovery and if you are looking to buy a home or remortgage this year please reach out and we will be happy to advise you.

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