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SELL YOUR HOME QUICKLYFirst Direct reintroduces mortgage offerings
Less than two months after putting a temporary end to its mortgages, First Direct has begun to sell home loans to new clients once again, BBC News reported today. The April 1 halt came about after the lender received a barrage of new applications following the mortgage “drought”, says the BBC.
First Direct’s latest move comes in the wake mortgage rate decreases instituted by some of the UK’s largest lenders. This week, Halifax announced its intention to cut rates as of today, whilst Abbey and Nationwide made slight downward adjustments to their rates last week. According to the BBC, Halifax’s decreases will be applicable only to current borrowers who are applying for re-mortgaging.
Speaking to the BBC, a Halifax spokesperson explained, “Our price reductions, for existing customers only, are on both our intermediary and branch based ranges.”
These respites – small though they might be – may signal an improvement in the UK mortgage market, asserts the BBC, which adds that the current banking system has been severely affected by the credit crunch.
Despite withdrawing its whole mortgage range in April to avoid being bombarded with new applications, First Direct says that it has reassessed the situation and is now able to cope with new applications after dealing with its backlog. The introduction of First Direct’s Rate matcher offer, provided by its parent group, HSBC, may explain the surge of interest in its home loan products.