You may have heard me go on about mortgages plenty of times. It is a pet subject of mine. I am a first time buyer, at least I want to be but I appear to have been completely shifted off the market.
Now I am a professional on a reasonable wage but this no longer suffices. I have 2 young children so my partner is not really able to work, so any mortgage application would have to be based on my sole earning powers. I live in a lovely area of South East England where house prices average well over a quarter of a million ( and that is for a two bedroom flat ) so can I get a foot on the housing ladder? The answer is no. I would have to have an impeccable credit record ( I don’t ) and I would have to be earning say 60k a year (not ) and say have a 60k deposit to come close ( also not ).
For those already on the housing ladder who have been tempted into remortgages for holidays and cars and home improvements; the recent increases in interest rates have sent a collective shudder down spines..
Mortgage payment protection may help many people out, but there is only so long that the funds will continue to pay out in these schemes. The banks have allowed massive borrowing to have taken place, based upon rising house prices and the borrowers’ ability to repay these loans. It is highly possible that this may bring about an economic downturn, already being experienced in America, and at least a stop to the massive rises in house prices.
The 21st Century South Sea Bubble may burst, and like the original one some 300 years ago, there will be many casualties if it does.