We at Financial Advice Centre are keen to share relevant information and our professional, technical expertise regarding your mortgages. We appreciate these are uncertain times for us all, but we stay committed to providing you the best advice available.
 
 In this bulletin we would like to update you on the following:

• A message about current opportunities in property
• Mortgage holidays
• Our business continuity commitment 

Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss any of your concerns or if you need or require assistance in any way. 

Property values, base rate reductions and the opportunity this presents

It is speculated that there will be a downturn in the Housing price market. Although this is not enviable for existing owners, it does present an opportunity for those thinking of purchasing to gain a property at a lower than expected market value, whilst taking advantage of the low Base Rates.
 
We are under no impression that this crisis will affect the lendability of mortgages in monetary terms for new borrowers – however, we are effectively making applications and concluding offers during this time.
 
In fact, with the recent reduction in the Base Rate, we have seen an upsurge in mortgage enquiries for residential and commercial properties. Clients are looking to take advantage of now historically low interest rates by: 

• securing fixed term mortgage deals at the lower rate
• re-structuring finances and budgets, especially with whispers of a housing market downturn 
• evaluating current deals and potentially saving money even after paying exit charges with the long term stability of a five year fixed rate.

Whether you, your friends or family need to make a change, or would just like some peace of mind at this stage, we urge you to get in touch with our Mortgage Team for a free borrowing health check.

Mortgage Holidays

We have pulled together some information from across the market and itemised this below. Please note the below is general information and we suggest you speak to your specific lender about your individual circumstances.
 
Many lenders are supporting the market conditions with the Coronavirus Pandemic and payment holiday offers are in place with most lenders from Thursday 19 March.
 
You can apply for a mortgage payment holiday if:

• Your finances have been affected by Coronavirus.
• You’re up-to-date with your monthly mortgage payments (if you’re already behind on your mortgage payments, please discuss this with your lender about negotiating a back to regular payment scheme).
• You have consent from everyone named on the mortgage.

It’s important to remember that a mortgage holiday is a temporary break from your mortgage payments, to help you through these uncertain times. 

There are a few things to consider before applying for a mortgage payment holiday, to make sure it’s right for your situation:

• When your payments start again after the payment holiday, they’ll be recalculated, and you may see an increase in your monthly payments.
• The total amount of interest you pay over the term of the mortgage will increase.
• Usually you will not be able to switch your mortgage to another product with the lender whilst on a payment holiday. If you want to take up this offer, please switch before you request a payment holiday, and discuss this with your Financial Advice Centre Mortgage Adviser beforehand
• If you have an overpayment reserve, you could underpay instead.

 

We will keep business running as usual

In addition to providing market information we wanted to take this opportunity to reassure you that both Financial Advice Centre and our investment partners and platforms have sufficient and well tested contingency planning in place to ensure continued seamless business operations. 

Financial Advice Centre has a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan, designed to protect the firm, our employees and clients to ensure our operations are uninterrupted through natural disaster, terrorist action or, in the case of Coronavirus, the potential for some or all of the team to operate remotely. 

We are therefore well prepared in the event of an escalation in Government restrictions of movement because of Coronavirus and are fully confident that our day-to-day operations will continue to work as required. 

We have tested and ensured that should the need arise - all staff can work from home without interruption to our business.

Please remember you can contact your Adviser directly or continue to call us on 01905 723 058 with any questions or concerns.

We are here to help

So much is changing so quickly in the financial news at the moment. We make it our responsibility to stay informed of developments impacting mortgage investments. Please don't hesitate to contact us directly if you have any questions.