First-time buyers

Should you take a fixed or variable/tracker mortgage deal?

It's one of the most important questions that borrowers face when taking out a new mortgage. Mortgage Introducer recently reported that three in four new UK mortgages in December 2011 were arranged on a fixed-rate basis - up almost five per cent from the previous December. But is a fixed rate the right thing for you?

The Government's concession for first-time buyers to avoid paying Stamp Duty when purchasing properties under £250,000 is due to expire at the end of March this year. This incentive could potentially save them a considerable about of money and offer a helping hand when trying to secure mortgages to get on to the property ladder for the first time.

Housebuilder Mactaggart & Mickel Homes is reminding first-time buyers that the Stamp Duty holiday on properties under £250,000 ends on 24th March 2012. When this happens, purchasers will once again have to pay one per cent of the cost of their new home in Stamp Duty.

Last week, housing minister Grant Shapps announced more details about the Government's plans to help homebuyers struggling to find a property that they can afford.

Last year was a tough year for those first-time buyers looking to step onto the ladder, unless the Bank of Mum and Dad was happy to provide a considerable deposit to assist. Existing homeowners enjoying the low bank Base Rate at a mere 0.50% were also facing hard times, as some realised the fact that house prices were dropping away leaving minimal equity in their properties. Doom and gloom.

At sites across Scotland from Aberdeen to Wishaw , Stewart Milne Homes is rolling out its First Time Buyer Plan, which aims to combine the aspirations of new buyers with manageable mortgage repayments.

For first-time buyers setting up home in South Devon, the area currently offers a good choice of developments incorporating stylish, contemporary apartments - many with purchase assistance schemes available to help make buying more affordable.

Prospective homebuyers are being offered the opportunity to purchase a new home on the site of a former football ground in Essex.

Housebuilder Weston Homes is currently developing a collection of 95 high specification two-bedroom apartments and two-, three- and four-bedroom houses and coach houses, at a development called Saxton Park on the site of the former Grays Athletic Football Club stadium.

Time is now running out for first-time homebuyers to take advantage of the Government's stamp duty holiday.

Currently, first-time buyers pay no stamp duty on properties under £250,000. However these rates will change, potentially costing first-time buyers thousands of pounds when they buy a property.

Prospective homebuyers are being urged to buy a new home before the end of the stamp duty holiday on 24 March.

From March 25 onwards, anyone who takes ownership of a new home will have to pay 1% of the purchase price in stamp duty tax.

There was a rise in the number of first-time buyers in 2011, thanks partly to the fact that mortgage borrowing rates were at their most affordable for 14 years, research shows.

The Halifax says that mortgage payments for a new borrower in the second half of 2011 were at their lowest as a proportion of disposable earnings for 14 years, due mainly to cheaper property prices and mortgage borrowing rates.