“First-time buyers’ borrowing power hit by affordability stress”

Oct 24, 2022 | Housing market

An independent (financial adviser’s) view

Lenders have to assess whether or not you can afford a mortgage, and in recent years this has meant ‘stress-testing’. That’s not just how you react to the spectre of 3 or 4 prime ministers in the space of less than a year or a commute on the M25; it’s whether you’d be able to make your monthly repayments if interest rates went up still further. And there’s the problem for first-time buyers (and we’re probably talking under-40s, not under-30s now), your income has to be up to what might still happen, not just what is happening. Couple that with the need for a 15% deposit if you want an affordable rate, and you can see the extent to which they’re really up against it. With property prices as they are that is; so, something’s got to give, I’d say.

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“Rachel Reeves may be forced to raise taxes”

“Rachel Reeves may be forced to raise taxes”

Why did she/they (in the old sense) think that tinkering around with IHT and CGT would be enough to sort out the NHS; and the potholes; and…and the list goes on. My guess is  that they asked the Treasury for a list of anything not involving income tax that they could get away with lightly, although they should already have learned from the winter fuel stuff that all publicity is not good publicity.