Despite the doom and gloom of the past year and the resultant difficulty of obtaining mortgage loans, life goes on and people will always need finance to help them buy houses.

The traditional ways of borrowing have changed over the years and lending did become imprudent and too easy. This strategy has come to bite the lenders hard and so we are entering a new, harder world of lending.

Whereas it was possible to get 100% mortgages with several lenders even stretching this to 125% for new borrowers, nowadays it is very difficult to obtain more than a 90% loan. Some lenders will not even advance more than 60% on a remortgage. This means that first time buyers, in particular, are struggling to gather together the necessary deposit for their purchase. (more...)