Mortgages

[Jon]

So we just had our renewal with Leeds Building Society

What do you people tend to do? Fixed or not? We've just gone with fixed and our repayments have dropped by £60 odd down to £480 a month so very happy with that.

I know variable is generally cheaper but ya know... Risk and all that

 

[RedAlix]

We went for a lifetime tracker this time. As our mortgage is less than 80k it doesn't make too much difference if interest rate go up a few %. We aren't tied in either so if it does look like interest will go crazy high then we can change and fix.

We've actually done really well with it so far and there was a period of 2 years where we were only paying 0.5% interest!

We are currently paying 2.49%. We could have got a better rate buy I didn't want something that had to be renewed every two years.

 

[Darcey]

Hi

I'm nearly 3 years into a 5 year fix. There's times I cursed taking a fix as it also came with an early repayment charge of £3k (which doesn't get less the more you go into the 5 years as some do); I also have to get a new boiler which will be about £3k so if I was to sell my house I would be £6k out of pocket before any EA fees.

My rate is 4.99 with Santander - not the best but at the time I had to go with the devil I knew as I had not long gone self-employed and had earned peanuts so would probably not got an offer from any of the other banks/bs's as no books to show income.

On that note, I'm a bit concerned about the new affordability criteria you have to meet now, if you stayed with your current provider you often could just go onto one of their products from another without fees and paperwork but I believe all that has now changed and when they see how much I earn I don't know if the will give me a deal. So maybe I should try and find an employed job.

Still two years to go until my current fix ends. Not sure whether to do tracker or SVR next time as a lot can happen in that time.

:

 

[Darcey]

So we just had our renewal with Leeds Building Society

What do you people tend to do? Fixed or not? We've just gone with fixed and our repayments have dropped by £60 odd down to £480 a month so very happy with that.

I know variable is generally cheaper but ya know... Risk and all that

Hi Jon

Did you have to go through the new affordability checks like a lot of banks are doing? I know some are even applying them when you are an existing customer and moving onto a new product...

 

[RedAlix]

Are the new affordability checks much different now? We applied for our recent mortgage last November and we were asked about what we spent our money on. We had to give estimates for things like how much we spent on car running costs, saved for christmas and even hairdressers and clothes etc!

 

[Darcey]

Are the new affordability checks much different now? We applied for our recent mortgage last November and we were asked about what we spent our money on. We had to give estimates for things like how much we spent on car running costs, saved for christmas and even hairdressers and clothes etc!

I think that a new law was introduced on 26 April so that everyone has to answer the checks, whether they are applying for a new mortgage or applying to change their current deal with their existing provider. I think some providers started introducing the checks earlier than they were required to so maybe yours was one of them

 

[Jon]

So we just had our renewal with Leeds Building Society

What do you people tend to do? Fixed or not? We've just gone with fixed and our repayments have dropped by £60 odd down to £480 a month so very happy with that.

I know variable is generally cheaper but ya know... Risk and all that

Hi Jon

Did you have to go through the new affordability checks like a lot of banks are doing? I know some are even applying them when you are an existing customer and moving onto a new product...

Nope not at all.

It was renewal time, we rang them up, the only odd thing was like I mentioned above they had to email their offers to us (I assume It was a personalised email in regards to rates and what not).

Once we had decided we emailed back and then they sent us the forms to sign which we did and that was that.

Nothing new for us to do this time

 

[Jon]

well got confirmation today of our mortgage change.

Down to £480 a month from now on so very pleased with that.

 

[Darcey]

well got confirmation today of our mortgage change.

Down to £480 a month from now on so very pleased with that.

Well done, I hope it makes a difference. Do you plan to make overpayments at all or will you just enjoy the extra cash?

 

[Jon]

No, don't plan to make over payments,

Plan to just take the spare cash and put it towards other debts

 

[littleme96]

We tend to go for fixed. I know you pay a bit of a higher rate, but I think it's worth it for the peace of mind of knowing what you are going to be paying for the next xx years. I am hoping to knock off a year or two each time we remortgage to reduce the term, as overpaying on our mortgage has to be £500+ a time which I find restrictive.