Mortgage advice: Fixed-rate home loan fees on increase

11-Sep-2009

Mortgage advice has been offered by one expert concerning the increase in fixed-rate home loan fees.

Alexander Hall, a mortgage broker, claimed the charges - which have increased by 14 per cent in the last year, according to moneysupermarket.com - are a way of attracting "good" clients.

Chief operating officer at the firm Andy Pratt explained these added extras cost the house hunter much more, which could be particularly relevant to first-time buyers without much capital.

He said funding for lending is short, meaning banks are trying to sell home loans to people who present less risk.

"This is just another way of setting the bar quite high," Mr Pratt commented.

Looking to the future, he said the number of such products with charges attached is likely to increase. However, he predicted that when more competition comes into the property market, this figure will fall.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England recently announced the total number of new mortgage approvals reached 50,123 in July, compared with 47,891 the previous month.

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