Merry Christmas
We had a very festive annual Christmas get together on Friday 6 December where we all worked together out of our Redditch office, with pizza for lunch and swapped Secret Santa’s, and a handful of our lender BDMs dropped by with treats which went down very well!
This was followed by a fantastic evening meal at No3A in Bromsgrove and a few of the girls carried the night on in Bromsgrove.
Events
Kate was incredibly fortunate to be invited to the prestigious Lloyds Banking Group annual festive lunch on the 2 December for the third consecutive year. This brings together some of the best mortgage brokers and mortgage firms in the UK, with the largest lender in the UK.
(Image Credit: https://rubenshotel.com/)
It was hosted at the amazing Rubens at the Palace which overlooks Buckingham Palace, where the King was in residence on the day so the atmosphere around the venue was buzzing.Google Reviews
As predicted by many, the Bank of England have announced one final review of the year, and the base rate has held again at 4.75%.
It is most important to understand that it is the SWAP rates that influence the lender’s funding costs, which then affects mortgage pricing – not the Bank of England Base rate.
A base rate decision can have little or no direct impact on mortgage pricing.
Generally speaking, since the beginning of December, after a slight peak in November of fixed rates rising, they seem to be creeping down again which is good news. We have been working non-stop with November being one of our busiest months of 2024, and the team here have been kept very busy in December as well.
It’s great to see lenders reacting to the market and being innovative with products. We have seen Halifax offer an 18-month term along with the more usual 2, 3 and 5 year we recommend. It is good to see they are responding to the demand from clients for shorter term deals.
We have seen more first time buyers and movers, rather than traditionally more re-mortgage business for this time of year. This may be due to the planned Stamp Duty increase on 1 Apr 2025, with clients wanting to take advantage of the current lower Stamp Duty rates that will be available on completions up until this date.
Just a reminder to all of our clients existing and new what we do! Our diary is often full with mortgage appointments but we can help you with so much more than this:
- Mortgages- Residential/Buy to Let/ Limited Company Buy to Let /portfolio landlords/adverse credit/self-employed/Right to Buy
- Protection- Life Cover/Critical Illness Cover/Income Protection/Family Income Benefit/Business Protection
- Residential and Buy-to Let building and contents insurance
- We can refer you on to specialists for bridging finance/commercial funding/second charge mortgages/equity release
- We work closely with all estate agents/solicitors and accountants that we can recommend to you if you don’t know where to start!
If any of this is on your 2025 to do list, please get in touch for more information.
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Phone: 01527 864 222 |
Phone: 0121 271 0641 |
Our hours for the rest of 2024:
Mon 23 Dec- Normal opening
Christmas Eve- Closed
Christmas Day- Closed
Friday 27 Dec- Open 9-4
Saturday 28 Dec- Closed
Mon 30 Dec- Open 9-4
Tues 31 Dec- Open 9-4
Wed 1 Jan- Closed
Thu 2 Jan- Normal Hours Resume
Your usual broker or admin will be in at some point over the festive period; however, we are operating skeleton staff to make sure everyone has a well-deserved break. Please be assured though that someone will be able to help if you have an enquiry.
2025!
Please book in sooner than later in January if you need an appointment on a Saturday or Thursday/Friday. These are generally our busiest days and are starting to fill. Just a reminder that we only charge a fee for our service once, and it is a lifetime fee, and you will not be charged this for any future mortgages we arrange for you.
We need to talk to you if you your current fixed rate mortgage is expiring before the end June.
As already mentioned, a lot of clients are trying to purchase and move before the Stamp Duty changes in April, which could mean everyone involved in the transaction being busier and in turn impacting lead times for the first few months of 2025.
As always, our advice is do not leave it until last minute – come and speak to us sooner rather than later so we can put a plan in place for you and let us look after the rest.
I would like to thank all of our clients for their support in 2024. Although we have still experienced some volatility, this year has been a lot kinder on our clients.
We are starting to deliver some good news and savings to our clients who had to take rates at the end of 2022 and start of 2023 when they were at their highest, which is comforting. I am so grateful for the love, warmth and loyalty we are shown from the local communities we do business in, which makes it possible for us to keep doing what we are doing.
And a final thank you to my team who have worked incredibly hard this year. In 2023 we had 4 more members of staff compared to what we have had during 2024, yet they have helped the same amount of mortgage customers and protected more families than ever.
I am proud of everything we have accomplished this year – but most importantly, the customers we have helped and hopefully established relationships with for a very long time.
Hope you all have a very festive and peaceful end of 2024 – and I look forward to seeing more of you in 2025.
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Our Location
301 Pershore Road South, Kings Norton, Birmingham, B30 3EX
Birmingham Mortgage Advice is a trading name of McTernan Financial Ltd who are an Appointed Representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network, a trading name of Advance Mortgage Funding Ltd. Advance Mortgage Funding Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Registered Office: Prospect House, Church Green West, Redditch B97 4DJ. Registered in England and Wales. Company number: 09168296.
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE
Most Buy-to-Let Mortgages are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The guidance and/or advice contained within this website is subject to the UK regulatory regime and is therefore primarily targeted at consumers based in the UK.