If you want to buy a house, go ahead, ignore the doom-mongers
In the Bank of England’s latest quarterly Credit Conditions Survey, it is reported that whilst building societies and banks reported that loans to households – including mortgages – increased over the last quarter, it may be harder for households to borrow, in the next quarter.
“It is claimed,” in this article, says Zah Azeem, Partner at Scrivener Tibbatts, “that lenders will become increasingly cautious and tighten their lending criteria. What rot. The banks and building societies need to keep making a profit so will continue to lend.
“What they will definitely do is make sure that those people who are borrowing have the capacity to pay it back. So if your job is at risk, of course your lender will have to take a view as to your creditworthiness. Nothing has changed. In fact – and here’s a prediction – it might become even easier for home seekers to get a mortgage because the total number applying can definitely be expected to fall as Covid-19 continues and the economy deteriorates.”
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, adds: “Borrowers who have found it harder to get a mortgage will not be surprised to hear that lenders tightened criteria in the third quarter and expect to tighten further in the run-up to the end of the year. Concerns about the impact of the pandemic on earnings and what will happen to property prices, particularly for those borrowing at high loan-to-values, is behind this growing caution.”
If you would like to discuss something related to a valuation please contact Zah via email at zah@scrivenertibbatts.co.uk or call 020 8947 7040.
