Take Surveys For Cash No Points:
Nationwide Building Society, TSB and Virgin Money have all announced plans to cut mortgage rates in what will be welcome news for borrowers. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says that 1.4 million mortgage customers, who bought properties with fixed-rate home loans when interest rates were set below 2%, are due to renew their arrangements in 2023. New mortgage deals have the shortest shelf life ever at just 15 days on average before being withdrawn, according to analysts Moneyfacts. This is the joint lowest amount of time on record, level with October 2022, writes Jo Thornhill.
NatWest’s buy-to-let fixed rates, available through brokers, have seen significant increases. The two-year fix with a ‘995 fee (60% LTV) has risen to 6.49% from 5.24%. However, recent rate cuts will be cold comfort to the customers of an estimated 2.4 million fixed rate deals which end between summer 2023 and the end of 2024, more info according to UK Finance. Three major lenders ‘ NatWest, Halifax and Virgin Money ‘ have cut rates across a range of mortgage products, offering further hope that home borrowing costs may have reached their peak, writes Laura Howard. Its five-year fixed rate for residential remortgage is now at 5.44% with a ‘999 fee (60% LTV).
The majority of First Direct’s rate cuts are for high loan to value (LTV) deals, helping borrowers with a smaller cash deposit or less equity in their property. All First Direct mortgages are either fee-free or come with a maximum fee of ‘490. First Direct is cutting its fixed rate mortgages by up to 0.3 percentage points, following a rush of lenders who have trimmed their fixed rates down in recent days (see stories below), writes Jo Thornhill. Foundation Home Loans, the specialist broker-only lender, is cutting fixed rates on buy-to-let loans by up to 0.75 percentage points. It is offering a five-year fix at 5.39% (75% LTV) with a ‘4,995 fee. Nationwide building society is cutting its fixed mortgage rates by up to 0.3 percentage points for new and existing borrowers with low amounts of equity or a small deposit.
Fixed rate mortgages ‘ the most popular type of deal among borrowers ‘ are priced according to ‘swap’ rates, which reflect expected interest rate movements, rather than what interest rates are today. Scottish you could try this out and Darlington building societies are also reported to be pulling their fixed rate products. Most mortgage lenders allow borrowers to pay up to 10% of the outstanding loan every year penalty-free.
Survey sites compare answers and can disqualify users who appear to be inconsistent in their responses. A globally recognized survey site, YouGov allows users to share their opinions on politics, public affairs, products, and brands. Unique for its focus on current events and societal issues, YouGov provides an engaging platform for those interested in influencing decision-makers and contributing to public discourse.
HSBC, the sixth largest mortgage lender, has unveiled its new fixed-rate deals, including a five-year fixed rate for home purchase at 4.84% and a five-year fix for remortgage at 4.98%, writes Jo Thornhill. TSB has cut fixed rates for new residential and BTL customers by up to 0.2 percentage points. At the same time Virgin will offer a five-year fixed rate for remortgage at 4.85% (60% LTV) with a ‘995 fee.
Skipton building society is cutting selected fixed-rate deals for existing residential and buy-to-let customers from tomorrow (12 December), writes Jo Thornhill. For remortgage customers, Barclays has two-year fixed rate deals from 4.98% with a ‘999 fee (60% LTV). Premier banking customers can get the same deal at a slightly lower rate of 4.95%. Both five-year fixed rates will have a ‘999 fee and be available for borrowers with at least 40% equity in their home, or cash deposit in the case of homebuyers. Despite the move by Co-operative, other lenders, with less keenly priced fixed rates, have continued to reduce the cost of their mortgage deals this week. Metro Bank has reduced selected residential and buy-to-let fixed rates and launched a five-year fixed rate 95% loan to value deal at 5.79%.
Approvals for remortgaging ‘ as defined by switching to a different lender ‘ plummeted to 32,500 in November from 51,300 in October. ‘One tactic some will turn to is to negotiate a longer-term mortgage in excess of 25 year, and for many that could take repayments into retirement age for one or both of the borrowers,’ Evelyn’s Gary Smith said. He said the FCA is continuing to work with lenders and has published guidance to firms about forbearance and how to help customers who are struggling. The figures throw the spotlight on the rising cost of living crisis as millions of households face the double whammy of rising interest rates and inflation at levels not seen for 40 years. FCA data and estimates predict a further 570,000 are at risk of ‘mortgage payment shortfall’ over the next two years. This is when more than 30% of a borrower’s gross household income is going towards mortgage payments.
There are around 4,350 residential mortgage deals on the market, according to Moneyfacts, compared to 3,640 at the start of the year and just 2,560 since last Autumn’s mini-Budget. But it is still a lot lower than the 5,300 deals available in December 2021. This is the first five-year fixed rate at under 4% since September 2022. The new rate is 3.99% (down from 4.29%) for remortgage customers with at least 40% equity in their home.
Coventry building society is cutting selected fixed rates across its range for residential and buy-to-let borrowers from Friday (13 October). The reductions will be applied to all two-year fixed rates for residential home purchase and remortgage, three-year fixed rates at 80% to 85% loan to value, plus five-year fixed rates at 90% LTV. The mutual is withdrawing all tracker rate deals for new and existing customers. Halifax is cutting selected fixed rates for remortgage, available through brokers, from 1 February. The rate cuts, of up to 0.56 percentage points, will be on deals for larger mortgage loans (up to ‘2 million), shared equity and shared ownership deals and green mortgage products. Selected product transfer deals will be cut by up to 0.46 percentage points.
The lender will also increase selected residential product transfer deals by up to 0.1 percentage point (75% to 90% LTV), while also cutting the rate on some larger loan product transfer deals at 85% LTV. Clydesdale Bank has also given notice to brokers that it will increase selected residential fixed rates by up to 0.2 percentage points from 13 February. HSBC’s five-year fixed rate deal for residential remortgage at 3.99% is available to homeowners with at least 40% equity in their property, and there is a ‘999 arrangement fee. Nationwide building society is hiking the cost of its fixed rate mortgages by up to 0.2 percentage points for new borrowers and existing customers, writes Jo Thornhill. But it is reducing a range of its tracker mortgage deals for new borrowers by up to 1.05 percentage points, as well as cutting its two-year fixed rate buy-to-let remortgage deals by up to 0.5 percentage points.
The equivalent five-year fixed rates for borrowers with a 25% deposit or 10% deposit are now priced at 4.14% (down from 4.24%) and 4.64% (down from 4.84%) respectively. Accord, the specialist lending arm of Yorkshire building society, is withdrawing a range of residential mortgage products for new borrowers this evening and will increase the rates from 9 February. TSB has cut some rates more info (two and five-year purchase deals and five-year remortgage rates) for buy-to-let borrowers by up to 0.5 percentage points. TSB is also increasing its two-year fixed-rate deal for residential remortgage for borrowers with up to 25% equity in their home by 0.2 percentage points to 4.74%, effective from 9 February. Nationwide joins a growing number of lenders in its upping mortgage costs.
Taking surveys for money is one of the easiest ways to make extra money right now. Okay, in all honesty, you’re not going to pay your mortgage on surveys alone. But, it’s easy, easy money that you can make whenever you have a little extra time. If you want to make the most of earning cash with online surveys that pay, you need to follow a strategy.
The rate of annual house price growth slowed from 2.8% in December 2022 to 1.1% in January 2023, according to Nationwide Building Society’s latest house price index. Prices fell 0.6% month on month and are now 3.2% below where they stood in August 2022. The number of searches around house prices also increased dramatically, up by 172% over the past year. And although the lowest five-year fixes are still below 4%, some providers have tweaked their deals upwards in recent days or removed their best buys to control business levels (see stories below). If a borrower agrees an option with their lender to pay less than the agreed amount in their contract, this will be reflected on their credit file.