Hello again readers,
I hope you are all keeping safe and well and If you need any assistance with your mortgage finance or insurance needs, please feel free to email / call me and I will be happy to help.
It has been a busy week or so in the interest rate world Virgin, Clydesdale, Leeds, Post Office, Nat West, HSBC, Accord, Vernon, Newcastle, Kent Reliance, Interbay and Platform have all announced recent changes.
In criteria news, Metro make changes to their self-employed business accounts rules, as well as to rules for foreign national borrowers.
Halifax have made changes to their visa requirements.
Accord make changes to their CIS contractor rules.
West Bromwich makes changes to their fixed term contractor, gifted deposit and income from a family business rules.
In wider news, Average asking prices jumped by 2.1% in the month to April and by 5.1% year on year to reach a record £327,797, according to the latest index from Rightmove. The increase of £8,733 was only the second time in five years that prices have jumped by more than 2% in a month.
Properties are selling at their fastest rate on record, with the average time from listing to an offer being agreed reducing to just 45 days in April. Almost one in four properties that had a sale agreed in March had been on the market for less than a week, which is the highest rate ever recorded.
The consumer prices index (CPI) measurement of inflation rose to 0.7 per cent in the 12 months to March, new data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.
That is an increase from the 0.4 per cent recorded in February, while the consumer prices index including housing costs (CPIH) increased from 0.7 per cent to one per cent over the same period.
Fuel costs was a factor in the rising inflation figure, with the ONS noting that the price of a litre of petrol stood at 123.7p in March, compared with 119.4p a year ago, and a recent low of just 106.2p per litre last May.
In Insurance new, just a reminder for those particularly in the SE of England, and those whose property is built on London clay, with a dry summer promised (we’ll see in due course….), heres a reminder why you have building insurance and the difference between Subsidence, Settlement and Heave.
Subsidence is caused by shifting soil under the property, resulting in structural damage (e.g. cracks in the property, doors not shutting, breaking drains and piping). This downward movement would have occurred even without the weight of the building. Treatment can take two years, while cracks are monitored and the cause rectified.
With settlement, the building sinks into the ground and can be a sign of inadequate design or construction.
Heave is when the ground below the property rises. It’s most often caused when a dead or removed tree’s root network no longer draws water from the subsoil, causing the ground to swell.
I recommend you check your home insurance plans and see exactly what cover you have in place. If you need any advice or a new quotation for your home and contents cover, please do get in touch.
I hope you found this post of interest and feel free to get in touch with me if you need any help with your mortgage or insurance needs,
All the very best,
Richard Johnson
Cert CII (MP), CeCM, AdvCemap, CeRGI
Mortgage and Insurance Consultant.
Mobile Phone ; 07881802962
Office : 0208 245 8464 direct dial
Email : richard@rjmortgagefinance.co.uk
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| 03rd March 2021 |
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