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BlogThings worth knowing early.
Short, plain-English notes on the things clients ask us most. No jargon, no sales pitch, and nothing you need to give us your email address to read.
Do teachers need life insurance and income protection?
What the Teachers' Pension already pays if you die in service, what sick pay covers, and where supply teachers and young families are left with a gap.
Read it →Can you get a UK mortgage if you are not a British citizen?
Yes, and nationality is rarely the issue. What lenders look at is how long you have lived here, how long your visa has left and how big your deposit is.
Read it →The mortgage application process: stages, timeline and what to bring
From agreement in principle to completion, how long each stage of a mortgage application takes, and the documents to bring to your first appointment.
Read it →Help to Buy has closed. What can first-time buyers use instead?
The Help to Buy equity loan closed in England in 2022. What is available now, from 95% mortgages to shared ownership, and how to work out what you can afford.
Read it →Older Persons Shared Ownership: the house-buying scheme for over 55s
How the over 55s shared ownership scheme works, why the rent stops at 75%, who qualifies, and whether you need a mortgage at all.
Read it →Can you have two mortgages on one property?
Yes, through a second charge mortgage. When it beats remortgaging, what it costs, and the cases where a further advance from your lender is simpler.
Read it →Right to Buy mortgages: what lenders look at when you buy your council home
How a Right to Buy mortgage works, how lenders treat the discount, the properties some will not touch, and what it means for tenants of Cross Keys Homes.
Read it →Mortgage broker versus the bank: which should you use?
Your bank can only offer you its own mortgages. A broker searches more of the market but usually charges a fee. An honest look at when each one makes sense.
Read it →Joint mortgages: what two names on the deeds actually commits you to
Buying with a partner, a friend or a relative. How joint mortgages work, how lenders treat two credit files, and the ownership choice most people skip.
Read it →Is there such a thing as a teacher mortgage?
No lender sells a teacher mortgage. What exists is a real difference in how lenders read supply, part-time and TLR income, and that decides what you can borrow.
Read it →Buying new-build in Peterborough: what catches people out
Hampton, Great Haddon, Paston Reserve. New-build mortgages run to the builder's timetable, not yours, and incentives can move the valuation. What to know first.
Read it →Commuting to London from Peterborough: what it does to your mortgage
Peterborough to King's Cross is under an hour, which is why people move here. Fewer realise the season ticket counts against what a lender will let you borrow.
Read it →Buying in the villages around Peterborough: what lenders look at
Sawtry, Oundle, Yaxley, Whittlesey. Older village properties raise questions a modern estate never does, and some decide whether a lender will lend at all.
Read it →When should you start looking at your remortgage?
Leave a remortgage to the month your fixed rate ends and your lender quietly moves you to their standard variable rate. Here is when to actually start.
Read it →What lenders actually do with your accounts when you are self-employed
The same self-employed applicant can be offered very different amounts depending on which income method the lender uses. Here is how the main ones work.
Read it →You have death in service at work. Do you still need life insurance?
Death in service is a real benefit, but it is rarely the whole answer. What it covers, what it does not, and how to work out whether you have a gap.
Read it →Rather just ask us?
Tell us what you are trying to work out and one of the advisers here will come back to you.
- One of the five advisers on Eastfield Road, not a call centre.
- Usually the same working day.
- No obligation, and nothing to sign at the end of it.
Would rather talk now? Call 01733 602 033.
Rather just ask us?
Twenty minutes on the phone usually beats an afternoon of reading.