Mortgage guides and advice

A woman redecorates her house after taking out a hoe improvement loan

The Best Ways To Fund Your Home Improvements

There’s a good chance that once you’re on the property ladder, you will want to put your own stamp on your house by making some home improvements. You might want a new kitchen or build an extension, whatever you want to do, you’ll most likely need to raise some capital in order to do it.

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A man holding a phone with his credit score indicated on it

Check your credit score

Many people avoid checking their credit report because they have been lead to believe it will have an impact on their overall score. In fact, you can check your own credit report as often as you like without it having an impact on your score. Although every check of your report will create a footprint on your file, only searches made by financial lenders will leave a mark on your file that other lenders will see.

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A man and woman hold the hands of their child and walk along a path after buying life insurance

Reasons to buy life insurance

There are many reasons to buy life insurance – whether you do or don’t have health issues. Naturally, if you do have any health problems then it makes sense to take out a policy, but even if you don’t it’s wise to look into it early.

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An open notepad with a coin jar spilled across it along with a house shaped coaster, a pen and calculator as the owner considers a remortgage

How to get the best remortgage deals

For the vast majority of us, our mortgage is the single largest financial commitment we’ll make. Whilst this is the greatest expense we’re likely to see in our lifetime, it also presents the greatest opportunity to make the biggest savings. Remortgaging is the process of switching your current mortgage to a new lender who can offer a better deal.

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Monopoly houses and hotels on stacked pound coins to show the change in stamp duty for first time buyers

What the new stamp duty cuts can mean for you

As of the 22nd November, stamp duty will be scrapped for the majority of first-time buyers. This is part of the 2017 budget by the chancellor Philip Hammond and aims to help fix the housing market. Any first-time buyer looking to purchase a property under the cost of £300,000 will be exempt from paying the tax.

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A man writes on a notepad in a background with a doll house and piles of coins at the front of the image

What does the interest rate rise mean for you?

There’s been plenty in the news recently about interest rates rising for the first time in over 10 years. The Bank of England has raised the base rate from 0.25% to 0.5%. This means you could be paying roughly £200 more a year for every £100,000 you owe.

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A young child plays chess

Things to avoid doing when applying for a mortgage

When applying for a mortgage you will want to avoid doing anything that could hold back your chances of being accepted. You might have already been working hard to improve your credit score and shouldn’t want to do anything that could further implicate your application.

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A house shaped ornament hangs from the branch of a tree

Myths around mortgages and credit scores

Your credit score is one of the most important pieces of information about you when it comes to borrowing money. Mortgage lenders use your credit record to help them make a decision on whether they should lend to you. However, despite their importance, there’s still a lot of misunderstanding and confusion around credit scores and what they mean.

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A man ticks a box next to five starts under the title "credit score"

Ways to improve your credit score

A poor credit history can complicate things when trying to get a mortgage. Many mortgage providers won’t lend to someone who has suffered from bad credit regardless of their situation now. If you’ve been unsuccessful in getting a mortgage then you should work to improve your credit score.

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Small stacks of money on a desk with a red house, pen, bank statement and calculator

Stamp duty on a second home

If you’re looking to buy a second home, whether this is to use yourself, or as a buy to let or holiday let then you should make sure you’re aware of the additional stamp duty charges you could face. The government have put in place a stamp duty surcharge of 3% on any second home.

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