More mortgages available than perceived

February 21, 2009 by Brendan O'Neill

Advice & Tips

Mortgage Advisors

According to recent figures from Unbiased, borrowers believe there are fewer mortgages available to them than there actually are.

Results from a survey online showed that hype from the media about mortgage lender’s tough criteria has meant that many wrongly assume that they would be unable to find a mortgage suitable for their circumstance.

Ten per cent of survey respondents thought they needed at least a 40 per cent deposit for a decent mortgage deal and 18 per cent thought anything under a 30 per cent deposit would not get them a good deal. More than half also thought that they would only be able to borrow up to 3 times their income and even more thought mortgage lenders would restrict offers to just 2.5 times the borrower’s income. Those in London were the most pessimistic.

In reality, the average deposit requested at the moment is around 20 per cent, although there are still decent mortgage deals out there for just a 10 per cent, 5 per cent and as of this week the first mortgage covering 100 per cent of a property value has also returned.

Those undertaking CeMAP training at the moment would be disappointed to read the results of this survey, but at the same time relieved to know that mortgage advisors have plenty of good mortgage deals available to offer and the mortgage range is expanding all the time as recent news has shown.