Posts Tagged ‘125% mortgages’

Last lender pulls 125% mortgage deal

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

Lenders have completely pulled out of the 125% mortgage market as the credit crunch continues to bite.  Birmingham Midshires Solutions said it was pulling its version of the product, which will lend people up to 125% of their property’s value, due to market conditions.  The group had been the only provider to continue offering the deals after Alliance & Leicester, Abbey, Northern Rock, Coventry Building Society and Godiva Mortgages all said they were scrapping them earlier this week.  Faced with only limited availability of funds, lenders are keen to concentrate on less risky mortgages, and the problem has been compounded by fears that house prices could fall.  There are now just two mortgage providers who will advance more than 100% of a property’s value, with Scottish Widows offering loans of 110% to professionals only, while Dunfermline Building Society is offering 110% to professionals and 105% to graduates but only in Scotland.

Northern Rock axes 125% mortgage

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Northern Rock has pulled its 125% mortgage after heavy public criticism for the super-size homeloan. The troubled bank will no longer offer the Together mortgage to new customers as it seeks to move towards low-risk lending and shrink its mortgage book. Alliance & Leicester, Abbey, Coventry Building Society and Godiva all pulled their 125% homeloans earlier this week. The only lender still offering 125% mortgages is Birmingham Midshires and experts have suggested it will soon take the product off the market. Fears have been raised that those coming to the end of 100%-plus mortgages may be in for a payment shock and unable to find credit elsewhere. Mortgage lenders have been reassessing their ranges in response to tighter market conditions and have become more reluctant to lend to those with chequered credit histories or high loan-to-value ratios.