Mortgage Insider

So, what are green mortgages?   Green mortgages come in many different forms, but all aim to incentivise buyers in the purchase of energy efficient homes or make energy-related improvements.   Through increased innovation and rising environmental awareness, green mortgage products are being launched at an ever-increasing rate to incorporate important factors such as decarbonisation, EPC ratings an...

Mortgage brokers have long been experts in dealing with new challenges. Be this in the form of regulation, technology – especially AI –, a worldwide pandemic, rising interest rates and heightened cost of living pressures. That’s quite a list, but it still doesn’t cover a fraction of the questions being asked of them by their clients in the current financial climate. So, how can brokers adapt their...

In recent times, there’s been much talk around the financial challenges facing the UK population. However, it’s important to remember that financial circumstances can also improve. Additional, and often unexpected, funds can come in differing forms such as inheritance, insurance payout(s) or even winning the lottery. With inheritance being the most likely scenario, and paying off a mortgage high o...

The buy-to-let market has undergone some major challenges and changes in recent years, all of which have impacted landlords and property investors to varying degrees. Rental yield has long been a vital component within landlord calculations but another increasingly important consideration in recent times has been whether to set up a limited company. To incorporate or not to incorporate is one of t...

For almost 10 years, the Help to Buy scheme proved incredibly successful in helping over a quarter of a million borrowers across the UK to buy a home. But, with this scheme now having ended in England and Scotland, this leads to the question of what – if anything – can replace it. In the latest episode of Barclays Mortgage Insider podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Mobeen Akram, New Homes Dir...

The mortgage market is currently experiencing growing demand for long-term mortgages – otherwise known as marathon mortgages - with some lenders even offering up to 40-year terms to help attract more young buyers onto the property ladder. So, will marathon mortgages be THE 2024 trend for first-time buyers? Or, with mortgage rates falling, is it simply a passing phase? To answer these questions and...

The past few years have seen the relentless rise of the Bank of England base rate dominate lending and borrowing decisions across the mortgage market. This significant uplift has led to an even more complicated picture around affordability, stress testing, the influence of mortgage swap rates and generated a flurry of future interest rate forecasts amid some lingering economic uncertainty. To add...

The UK's housing market remains in a state of flux. Interest rates are at their highest level for 15 years, house prices are faltering, and the UK economy is still feeling the lingering aftermath of last year’s mini-budget. On a more positive note, following a period of swap rate turbulence, mortgage rates are slowly but steadily coming down, inflation is falling and we continue to see a very diff...

The UK economy continues to dominate conversations across the country in the wake of the transition to a higher interest rate environment, rising cost of living pressures, an increased focus on unemployment figures and shifts in the labour market. In a bid to unpick the current economic position and help us understand what it all means for the intermediary mortgage market, the latest season of Bar...

Returning soon, a new series Mortgage Insider, Barclays' award-winning podcast for mortgage brokers. Hosted by TV presenter and property expert Phil Spencer, the new series will see leading industry experts, brokers and Barclays’ own team of experts continue to delve deep into the pressing issues that are shaping the mortgage and housing markets. The conversations will cover topics such as the per...

Despite the need for financial advice growing exponentially in an increasingly complex economic landscape, many perceived barriers remain for all too many people across the UK. The final episode in Season 4 of Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast evaluates where these barriers appear, the progress being made by the mortgage industry to overcome them and what more brokers can be doing to make the advi...

Following on from episodes which have focused on why buying a house is so complicated and the changing role of the mortgage broker, the latest instalment in the award-winning Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast dusts off its crystal ball to predict the homebuying and selling journey of the future, what’s going on behind the scenes to make this happen and the future role of the mortgage broker. Host...

Following his appearances on Series 1, 2 and 3 of Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, William Hobbs, Chief Investment Officer at Barclays Wealth & Investments, is back by popular demand to help make sense of current economic conditions in his own inimitable style. Will joins regular host and property expert Phil Spencer to carefully plot his way through what remains a mixed economic picture. Wi...

Evolving and adapting to meet ever-changing lending and borrowing needs is second nature to mortgage brokers. Which leads to the question - how are they doing business differently in 2023? In the latest episode of Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host and property expert Phil Spencer is joined by two mortgage brokers - Helen Pierson, director at Mortgage Advice Bureau, New Homes and Neil Ryner,...

Buying a house remains one of life’s most stressful events but is the methodology too onerous, lengthy and overly complex? This is the question, amongst many others, which was posed to representatives of three of the most prominent components in the homebuying process - the mortgage broker, the estate agent and the conveyancer. Episode 8 of Barclays award-winning Mortgage Insider podcast sees mort...

The UK mortgage market has always generated a huge variety of ways to help people achieve their homeownership goals and, despite operating in a higher interest rate and inflationary environment which is placing additional pressure on affordability, an array of mortgage products remain available to meet individual borrowing needs. In the latest episode of Barclays Mortgage Insider podcast, regular...

Mortgage brokers have always been on hand to support and deliver solutions for a variety of borrowers on what remains one of the largest and most emotive financial decisions they are ever likely to make. But how has the mortgage advice process changed following a string of events which have put personal and household finances under even greater scrutiny and resulted in an increasingly complex hous...

With awareness rising over the environmental and cost implications generated by greater levels of energy efficiency within our homes, it’s little wonder that potential buyers are exploring the benefits of purchasing a new build property. In Episode 5 of Barclays award-winning Mortgage Insider podcast, Matt Aston, Head of New Build at Barclays and James Holmear, Group Sales Director at Redrow join...

The buy-to-let mortgage market has experienced many highs and some lows over the years but in the wake of speculation around a potential great buy-to-let property sell-off, what impact are recent events having on landlords and mortgage brokers? The latest instalment in Series 4 of Barclays award-winning Mortgage Insider podcast sees host and property expert Phil Spencer canvass the opinion of Anei...

The value of mortgage advice continues to rise in line with the number of challenges facing a variety of homeowners and potential buyers across the UK housing market. Challenges which are generating a host of difficult conversations between clients and mortgage advisers. Episode 3 of Barclays award-winning Mortgage Insider podcast sees host and property expert Phil Spencer sit down with two highly...

Consumer Duty is currently the hottest topic across the mortgage market and, with new rules coming into force on 31 July 2023, it’s an area that no business can afford to ignore. In the latest episode of the award-winning Mortgage Insider podcast, host Phil Spencer carefully navigates this complex issue with the help Richard Merrett, director of strategic relationships at SimplyBiz Mortgages and M...

We are thrilled to open the highly anticipated Series 4 of Barclays award-winning Mortgage Insider Podcast with a focus on the UK housing market through the eyes of our brand new host, the one and only Phil Spencer. This first instalment in the 12-episode series sees property expert Phil joined by one of the country's most respected housing market commentators Lucian Cook, Head of Residential Rese...

The award-winning Mortgage Insider Podcast - brought to you by Barclays Bank – is back and it’s even bigger and better than ever. Hosted by renowned TV presenter and property expert Phil Spencer, Series 4 takes you beyond the headlines to explore the challenges, changes and opportunities on offer across the UK housing and mortgage markets. In the latest series, Phil grills leading industry experts...

From pushing a trolley at Asda to embarking upon a business journey that led him from unpaid investment banking intern to become one of the youngest Vice Presidents at Goldman Sachs, Ying Tan has a fascinating personal story. However, an entrepreneur at heart he left the banking world to build one of the leading mortgage brokers in the UK. In the latest episode of the Mortgage Insider podcast, Bar...

In the latest Mortgage Insider Podcast, Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba - authors of the 2021 business book of the year and best start-up/scale up book award 2021, The Unfair Advantage - discuss how brokers can apply their unfair advantage to help bolster their business. Drawing on over two decades of hands-on experience, including being the first Marketing Director of Just Eat (a start-up now worth over...