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Problems With Mortgage Sales
The Bank of England announced that there was a decrease in the amount of home buyers in the UK, and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) announced that the number of disputes which concerned mis-sold mortgage endowments hit record levels. Mortgage lenders seem to be having a hard time. In fact, the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre took a survey that showed first time home buyers are afraid that they may never get onto the property market.
Recently, the problem of mis-selling of endowment mortgage products has made headlines. The FOS has admitted to receiving 70,000 complaints which concerned endowment mortgages. This means that they have received 1,300 complaints a week, in comparison to 300 a week three years ago.
The main reason for complaints was that people believed that mis-selling had occurred regarding policies. A lot of consumers believe that the products which were sold to them were unsuitable due to either financial short-falls or because the amount of risk involved was not explain to them before the policy commencing. The number of complaints and sheer scale has been grounds for changes in the regulations.
The situation is also not better for any first time home buyers. A study which was published by GMAC, the financially subsidiary of General Motors, shows that there is a shockingly low number of first time buyers which are making an entrance into the housing market.
According to a report from a mortgage lender, the main concern that first time home buyers have is not that they do not want to own their own home, but they are afraid of whether they can afford it or not. About a third of potential first time home buyers said they wanted to buy a home within the upcoming year, but only 5% were confident enough that they would be able to. These figures are disappointing.
There have been recent reductions in the cost of loans which are offered to first time buyers. Many experts believe that the base rate may continue to decrease, which will allow for even a lower cost of monthly mortgage payments. Although this seems good, new home buyers are still not confident that they should buy right now.
According to GMAC, more than half of the people who participated in their study felt comfortable with delaying their property purchase until they are over the age of 30. The average first time home buyer as of right now is 34. One of the main problems is that people who further their education have student debts to worry about, so they do not want to take on any other financial commitments, like buying a home. |
