Essentially Home Loans Weblog

One of the UK’s leading charities has stated that sale-and-rent-back property schemes are a disaster waiting to happen and something needs to be done sooner rather than later.
The claims come from the Citizens Advice Bureau who have called for more official regulation of firms involved in the scheme. Currently firms are simply buying the homes [...]

Despite the recent news of falling house prices, the property market and the cost of home loans here in the UK continues push the bottom rung out of reach for many first time buyers. So for some it may be worth considering investing in some property abroad.
Except for Spain, house prices in Britain have increased [...]

If you are looking to invest in a new property why not take the path that thousands of other Britons have chosen and invest in a house by our beautiful coastline.
Seaside town are the new hot property and whilst counties such as Devon, Cornwall and Dorset are obviously the most popular towns in other less [...]

Many analysts in the financial industry are upset at the way many debt management firms are using high interest, increased repossessions, and insolvency rates to sell financial products, sometimes to consumers who do not need them.
This trend is growing as fast as the debt management industry itself. This is causing many people to avoid buying [...]

Student loans are not a young adult’s concern. They are a family concern. Many parents are forced to help their children through school, or watch them struggle helplessly under the burden of student loans, exams, and poor housing.  This puts undue strain on the family unit as well as the student.  But, there are ways [...]

More and more of us are borrowing an increasing amount of money against the value of our homes, according to research from the Bank of England. In official language this is known as mortgage equity withdrawal.
The amount of mortgage equity withdrawal amounted to £49.7bn for 2006 and that was up from £36.6bn in the previous [...]

The cost of weddings has become substantial. Few people can afford to pay for their daughter’s wedding without drawing equity from their home in the form of a second mortgage or a secured loan.
The meal alone can cost £10,000, the dress £10,000, and the flowers £2,000. It is difficult to think of choosing between being [...]

With a growing number of sale-and-rent back firms now on the market, pensioners, as well as those struggling to make ends meet, are urged to be cautious before signing over their home.  There are many firms that offer a sale-and-rent back deal where they purchase your home below market value then rent it back to [...]

Kelvin Davidson, a property analyst for Capital Economics in London, expects increasing interest rates to slow down the property price increases to 4% by year end. However, he agrees with other analysts that unless interest rates breach the 6% mark “it’ll be an appreciable slowdown, not a crash.”
Wall Street Journal online is publishing reports about [...]

New figures show that loft conversions add more value to homes than any other home improvement.  However, most homeowners do not realise the value in a loft conversion and are mistakenly improving their kitchens or bathrooms believing that it is the best way to make their home worth more money.  Homeowners who are planning improvements [...]