Lowest levels of Income needed for Mortgage payments for five years

13-Jan-2010

If you have just bought a house, or are in the process of completing on a property purchase, you may be interested to know that in November last year home buyers had a record amount of spare cash left in their pay packets after making the monthly mortgage payment.

New data released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) shows that the amount of income that home buyers in November needed to use for mortgage payments was a at a record low.  Typically people buying properties at the end of 2009 needed only 10.6% of their gross income each month to meet their mortgage payments, down from 11.1% in October of last year.

Commenting on the data, CML director general Michael Coogan said:  "It is encouraging to see that mortgage interest payments are so affordable for home movers and first-time buyers. But with substantial deposits still needed to secure a mortgage, the market will continue to be relatively restrained for some time to come.

"With refinancing still unattractive or unnecessary for many borrowers due to continuing low rates, we are now seeing a much more house purchase-focused market, a profile much more like the beginning of the Noughties than its latter years." There were 53,000 house purchase loans granted in November, with loans to pay for new house purchasing accounting for 60% of all new UK lending in November, the highest proportion since 2001.  

Remortgages have gone the other way however, due to the tight lending criteria and the fact that with the interest rates as low as they are. For many people, their current mortgage deal cannot currently be beaten.  If you'd like to receive a free quote on a remortgage, please fill out our short remortgage form to be connected with a qualified adviser.

For those looking for either a first time buyer or a next time buyer mortgage or a remortgage at the moment, there are plenty of deals to be had, with many banks and building societies offering free valuations, cheaper arrangement fees and even offers on home buildings insurance.   When deciding on whether a mortgage offer presents a good deal, make sure you take all of the costs into consideration.  Read our article about calculating the true cost of your mortgage.

For a free, no-obligation mortgage quote, please fill out our short mortgage form and we will connect you with a professional, authorised adviser.