10 top tips on getting mortgage fit and remortgage ready – part 2
As we covered in part 1 of this two-part series, over 1.5 million people need to remortgage this year*. That’s a significant number of people who are likely to be switching from a UK mortgage deal of years gone by, when borrowing was much cheaper and monthly repayments were much smaller. For instance, the average 2-year fixed mortgage deal last month (March) was 5.76 per […]
10 top tips on getting mortgage fit and remortgage ready – part 1
As the weather begins to finally warm up and summer creeps closer, many of us will be thinking about getting our bodies beach ready in time for the holiday season. However, with over 1.5 million people needing to remortgage in 2024*, getting beach body fit shouldn’t be the only priority over the next couple of […]
How critical is critical illness insurance?
As an insurance broker in Maidenhead, we have a ‘top 10’ list of most frequently asked insurance questions – and this particular question is always on it. Sadly, it’s a question we can never answer. After all, how can anyone know when or if another person is going to get ill? Illness is generally something that people react […]
What’s next for the UK mortgage market?
It was all looking so good at the start of the year. The positive outcome of the much-touted mortgage wars that opened 2024 wasn’t just the fact that cheap UK mortgage deals seemed to be getting cheaper on a daily basis, but also the fact that consumer confidence began to increase. The UK’s housing market was moving again, the best mortgage deals that […]
Mortgage rates are rising (here’s what you can do to get ahead of the game)
As we covered in our last article, there has been a degree of mixed messages over recent weeks when it comes to UK mortgage rates. Some lenders have been putting them up, whilst others have been cutting them down – but it looks like rates may now be on an upwards trend after Santander and HSBC announced […]
Mortgage market mixed messages
If you’re not using a mortgage broker right now, then getting a mortgage must be a minefield. It’s certainly a lot more erratic than it was 15 months ago. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen products being pulled, rates changing daily and, more recently, rates dropping to more competitive (if not wholly palatable) levels. But wait, things […]
The benefits of equity release (and two alternatives to consider)
Equity release mortgages – or lifetime mortgages, as we’ll be referring to them here – are big at the moment. In fact, data released by the Equity Release Council (the industry voice for equity release in the UK) highlights that over £700m in equity was converted into cash via this type of mortgage in Q3 of 2023 alone. So, what […]
How protected are you?
Insurance can be a funny thing. As a society, we don’t think twice about insuring a phone, a bike or a watch, all three of which are essentially made of either metal or plastic (or a combination of the two). But how willing are we to insure against our own health? According to the Financial Lives […]