Good News For First Time Buyers…
It may be a long time ago now since I bought my first property, but I definitely remember the struggles of trying to get onto the property ladder and save up for a deposit.
That is why it is with great happiness that I reveal that leading lenders Santanders are increasing the maximum loan sizes of their mortgages.
Admittedly this news would have been better if these increases were applicable to everyone, but the point to take away from this particular story is the fact that competition is increasing amongst lenders. More importantly, the property market is becoming increasingly accessible to first time buyers again.
To sum up what has happened, Santanders have revealed plans to:
- Change the limit for first time buyers investing in new apartments from 70% LTV to 80% LTV
- Change the limit for investing in property from 80% LTV to 90% LTV
Whilst Santanders also divulged in their report that newly built property developments will remain at 70% LTV for apartments and 80% LTV for houses (for non-first time buyers), it is impossible to see the down side of this news. Especially as I imagine that it won’t be long before other leading lenders change their criteria to include existing property investors too.
All we can do is hope that the competition gets so hot that everyone benefits from deposit reductions and that buy to let mortgages get cut a break.
Wendy xx
