Leah Milner

1 week ago | mortgagestrategy.co.uk | Roger Baird |Leah Milner

Labour is set to spend a record £7.9bn to protect “hundreds of thousands of homes, small businesses, and vital infrastructure” from the growing threat of flooding in an announcement later this week. The UK will use a series of measures over the next decade, ranging from man-made flood barriers to wetland restoration, says the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Homes on flood-risk planes can face higher mortgages, or in some cases, be refused home loans from lenders.

2 weeks ago | mortgagefinancegazette.com | Leah Milner

in Lending news West Brom Building Society has cut rates by up to 23 basis points on core, shared ownership and new build deals. In its core purchase range, the lender has reduced the two-year fixed rate at 80% LTV product by 7 bps, now available at 4.46% with no fee. It has also introduced four new products at 85% LTV, across both purchase and remortgage two-year fixed rates.

2 weeks ago | mortgagefinancegazette.com | Leah Milner

There was no change in average two and five-year fixed rates for the second consecutive week, according to the latest rate watch data from Moneyfacts. Two-year fixed rates remained at 5.13% and five-year fixes at 5.1%Even within different loan-to-value tiers there was very little movement, with averages increasing or decreasing by only 1 or 2 basis points.

2 weeks ago | mortgagestrategy.co.uk | Leah Milner |Becky Bellamy

West Brom Building Society has cut rates by up to 23 basis points on core, shared ownership and new build deals. In its core purchase range, the lender has reduced the two-year fixed rate at 80% LTV product by 7 bps, now available at 4.46% with no fee. It has also introduced four new products at 85% LTV, across both purchase and remortgage two-year fixed rates. Among the most competitive products are a two-year fixed remortgage rate at 4.48% with a £999 fee up to 85% LTV.

2 weeks ago | mortgagefinancegazette.com | Leah Milner

Prices paid by first-time buyers are rising 2.5 times quicker than those paid by home movers since January, research by MPowered has found. An easing of lending rules and lower mortgage rates have boosted first-time buyer activity, pushing prices paid for first homes up by 7.1% in a year. Bank of England data shows mortgage lending to first-time buyers reached its highest level on record in the first quarter of 2025.