mortgage broker.co.uk

Blair's mortgage legacy

After 10 years of Tony Blair we look to see what the impact has been for the mortgage market and for home owners during this time.

Obviously gross mortgage lending is up but the increase has been significant from £75 billion in 1997 to almost £350 billion in 2006. The percentage of first time buyers is up by 5% putting pressure on the limited housing stock.

The past 10 years has seen the Bank of England base rate initially drop from 6.5% and bottom out at around 4% but seems to be on the rise again. The average house price in the UK has gone up from around 70K to almost 180K during the 10 year period making property an excellent investment. The lower base rates have led to a much higher increase in average income multiple for all mortgages . In 1997 it was around 2.25 times income and at the begining of this year this has steadily risen to over 3 times income multiples.

Over all most property owners will be happy with the reign of Blair. We will have to see what lies in store for the era of Gordon.
20 June 07

Speak to a buy to let mortgage broker