Millions of homeowners across the UK are facing more mortgage hikes as a direct result of the Eurozone debt crisis.
Several lenders are also imposing ‘stealth’ changes to their mortgage range, making it harder for borrowers to qualify for loans.
Since the financial crisis, lenders have been implementing strict lending criteria such as asking for more information about the borrower’s financial condition. But in recent weeks, they have been making further tweaks, further reducing the number of approved loans.
“Lenders are now making a lot of stealth changes to make it tougher to get a mortgage,” said Andrew Montlake from mortgage broker Coreco.
“Together with increasing their rates, they are carefully controlling their market share so they do not get deluged with business they can’t cope with.”
For instance, Halifax has restricted the availability of its two-year, fixed-rate loans for customers who want to remortgage through a broker. Although it previously offered packages of up to 85 percent of the property price, it will now only lend up to 75 percent.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England said another mortgage rate hike is possible if funding costs remain high, as many banks look to restore their margins.
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