What have we been up to?
It’s been a while since we updated you on what’s going on at TMAG!
We hope you had great Summers, Halloweens and Bonfire Nights, and managed to get Oasis tickets, and even though the clocks have gone back, we have fast-forwarded to the final part of the year with Christmas around the corner.
Welcome to the Team Paul & Dannie
Paul Bisseker started with us in July, and it feels like has always been with us. Paul works with Lisa looking after our compliance administration, double checking the cases the brokers work on meet the strict requirements set by our network Primis. He has hit the ground running with his wealth of experience after working in the mortgage industry at one of the largest banks in the UK for 22 years.
Our new receptionist and trainee administrator Dannie Hawthorne has been with us for nearly 2 months now. If you have phoned or messaged the office recently it’s probably Dannie you have spoken to. She looks after our diary and welcomes clients for appointments as well as supporting the brokers and case managers. She has really impressed us with her can do attitude and confidence.
We hope this is the start of a great and long career for both of them.
We Did It – 500 5 Star Google Reviews
We were over the moon to hit our target of 500 5 Star Google reviews at the Redditch Office.
We now have 677 across the Redditch and Birmingham offices, and our next target is to achieve 200 for Birmingham.
As always – thank you so much to all of our customers who have helped us reach this!
Events
The events season this year has been a little more limited, as we have focused our time and efforts on supporting clients over what has been a very busy period for us.
It’s not been all work and no play though. There have been a few highlights over the last few months to shout about.
Kate qualified for and attended the prestigious ‘Recognising Elite’ event hosted by Primis Network for the 3rd consecutive year.
This was in a scenic setting in Northern Ireland at the 5* Slieve Donard Hotel. A couple of highlights of this event were the guest speakers from HSBC & Experian with their valuable insights into the future rate forecasts and customer behaviours.
Kate and Khloe went on road to Rockline Industries to provide their employees with the opportunity to get some advice during their break times. This was a huge success, and we hope to work with more local employers in the future off the back of this.
Kate attended the ‘Barclays Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summit & Awards 2024’ at their Canary Wharf Head Office.
This again, featured some incredible guest speakers including Tim Campbell MBE from The Apprentice, and was a real thought-provoking event that really focused on what we can be doing to use our privileges, what ever they may be to create a more diverse and inclusive culture.
Kate was fortunate to attend a lunch with Richard Walker who is the Head of Intermediaries at Virgin Money. These sorts of events are really productive where we are able to share and communicate the issues brokers and customers are facing, and feedback how the lenders can support us even more.
We had a really useful session with Neil Seager from Omerod Rutter Chartered Accountants and brushed up our skills on reading accounts so that we can support our business owners and self-employed customers even further. A large proportion of our client base are self-employed or have limited companies and training from industry experts like Neil is invaluable. Thank you, Neil!
Just a gentle reminder- Self Employed Clients
Self-employed clients planning to remortgage or buy a property in the next few months should get their paperwork for the 2023/24 tax year ready so that it doesn’t delay your application. The deadline for your personal tax assessment is 31.01.2025. You will usually be asked to provide evidence of your earnings for the last two years when you apply for a mortgage or re-mortgage, although some lenders may accept just one year.
Most lenders require your most recent year-end documentation to be no older than 18 months at the time of application. This means that if you’re about to apply for a mortgage, self-assessments for 2022/23 can no longer be used, and you’ll need to provide documents for the 2023/24 tax year instead.
It is generally the lenders preference that an accountant supports you with submitting your tax returns.
Please contact us if you need any further information regarding this, or if you need us to point you in the direction of a 5-star accountant.
There has been LOTS going on in the news, which is impacting what we are doing.
The Bank of England have reduced the base rate by 0.25%, so it’s now 4.75% and The Autumn Budget.
This is a confusing time for us as well as our customers.
We have had a lot of calls from clients since the base rate reduced asking what this means for their current and future applications, and if the rates we have already arranged have gone down.
So, I thought it was important to try and explain what this actually means with regards to your mortgage.
- Nearly all of those on Base Rate Tracker mortgages should see a benefit immediately from the base rate reduction.
- Standard Variable Rates (rates that you normally move onto after a fixed rate if you don’t arrange something different) may reduce, but this is at each lenders’ discretion. We have already seen many lenders reduce these already.
- Fixed rates are not linked directly to the base rate, and other factors such as SWAP rates play a part in the lenders decisions on what they are doing with their fixed rates. A base rate cut can have little or no direct impact on mortgage pricing.
- SWAP rates are based on future market expectations and interest rate trends.
- Despite a drop to base rate, if the market believes the rate drop is temporary or if inflation pressures are expected to continue, SWAP rates will remain higher or even increase which is what impacts the price of current mortgage rates.
- It is most important to understand that it is the SWAP rates that influence the lenders funding costs, which then affects mortgage pricing – not the Bank of England Base rate.
Advice To Our Clients
- If you are coming to the end of your fixed deal, we always encourage you to speak to us 6 months before your current product expires. This advice will never change. We will make sure if rates do reduce over the following 6 months – that you benefit from any lower rates on offer, but it also gives you peace of mind that you have secured a product if rates do increase.
- If you are looking at moving and are currently on a fixed deal, we can review your current product and consider any early repayment charges you would need to pay to exit the deal early, and weigh up on balance if it’s worth paying them for your onward moving plans or ‘porting’ your current product. A lot of our home moving clients are often able to “port” over their existing mortgage to a new property, which means staying with the same lender and avoiding paying any early exit charges, and also preserving the existing rate which may be lower than current rates, and topping up on a new product if extra borrowing is needed. (at lender discretion).
- If you are just generally confused by what’s going on in the mortgage market at the moment, please give us a call and we will do our best to navigate and guide you towards the best product choice for your views and circumstances.
These are the main Autumn Budget changes that may affect your property decisions:
Stamp Duty Immediate Affect
- The Rate of Stamp Duty has increased for those buying a second home or buy to let property immediately. This will rise from an additional 3% to 5%, on top of normal stamp duty rates.
Stamp Duty April 2025
- The stamp duty threshold will drop from £250,000 to £125,000.
- First-time buyer stamp duty relief will drop from £425,000 to £300,000.
- These changes will impact most homeowners, including first-time buyers, home-movers and second-home buyers.
This means that if you’re buying for the first time before then or moving, you will pay more stamp duty from April 2025.
Right To Buy Homes from 21 November
- Maximum discounts are being reduced to £16,000-£38,000 depending on geographical location. West Midlands will be £26,000.
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates to increase
With immediate effect, the chancellor confirmed an increase in the rate paid by basic-rate taxpayers from 10% to 18% and from 20% to 24% for higher-rate taxpayers. These changes are effective immediately and align the CGT rates with those on sales of residential property.
The case I am going to tell you about emphasises again, the value of using an experienced and knowledgeable mortgage broker, in comparison to trying to do it yourself directly through a bank.
This case involved a family that approached me, having already sold and had an offer accepted. It is a big ‘Forever Home’ move, and they were desperate to find a way to make it happen.
They had approached a bank directly, submitted a full application which had resulted in the lender declining their application and reducing the amount they needed to make the move financially viable by £80,000.
This case presented multiple streams of income from employment, property rentals and benefits.
On first assessment of the information, my very first thought was that the bank they had already applied to was the most competitive and suitable lender for the clients circumstances, and my belief was that the client had not presented it correctly, which resulted in the reduced lending amount.
I applied to the same lender, and with the help and support of Yasmin the case manager, we packaged it perfectly, including explanations of anything which wasn’t obvious from bank statements and payslips, and we got a maximum loan agreed which was £138,000 more than the customer had.
We don’t expect our customers to be experts in keying mortgage applications, supplying documents or providing supporting case information. The above is the reason that you should always seek support and advice through a 5-star mortgage broker like ourselves! Even if it is to your existing bank or mortgage lender.
It has been a very positive second half of the year for us, and although recently rates have been a little volatile again due to global events, the last few months have felt a lot more settled, and we have been delivering better news to customers. Even some rate decreases and term reductions!
There is one more decision from the Bank of England on Thursday 19 December 2024 to watch out for, and we will of course be monitoring and communicating lender behaviour in the run up to and after this decision.
It’s important to say that we are still living in unpredictable financial times, however, it hasn’t stopped our clients keeping us busy with moving, purchasing for the first time and re-mortgaging. Life has continued and all of the financial instability hasn’t stopped you with your plans! So, we thank you for keeping us on our toes!
We predict that the New Year will be a busy time for First Time Buyers and Home Movers, so we would advise you to try and make time to come and see us asap if you have plans to buy a property in 2025. Or get ahead of the game and book your January appointments in now, especially if you want a weekend appointment.
A continued theme over the last couple of years is that a good broker is more valuable than ever! Most of the cases that we see have some form of complexity, which we simply wouldn’t advise to try and tackle or navigate on your own!
We are excited to keep up the momentum for the remaining purchases and re-mortgages due to complete before the end of the year. Solicitors may close earlier for the Festive Period, but we will be open as are most lenders over Christmas & New year. Our Opening Hours for the Festive Period are below:
Christmas Eve – Closed
Christmas Day – Closed
Friday 27th Open 9-4
Saturday 28th Closed
Monday 30th Open 9-4
Tuesday 31st Open 9-4
Wednesday 1st Jan – Closed
Thursday 2nd Jan – Normal Hours resume
Catch you next month
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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.