Martin Lewis has warned first-time buyers who are looking to buy a house soon. The Money Saving Expert founder dished out the advice on Good Morning Britain on Monday, September 3 amid the recent property market turmoil.
Thousands of mortgage deals have vanished from the market in recent days, throwing potential homeowners into panic. After concerns that the Bank of England will raise interest rates to as high as six percent, mortgage lenders made a number of rates unavailable. The change would increase mortgage repayments by hundreds for many homeowners, including one first-time buyer who said her interest offer had risen from 4.5% to 10.4%.
There are now fears first-time buyers will be priced out of the market as the cost of living crisis continues to make owning a home even more unaffordable. Appearing alongside Susanna Reid for a dedicated cost of living Good Morning Britain episode, Martin answered questions from viewers, Manchester Evening News reports.
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One viewer Lana phoned in to ask: "Is now a good time for first-time buyers?". Her question comes after the UK Government mini budget saw stamp duty cut announced in England by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. It will see the threshold for first-time buyers increase from £300,000 to £425,000. In Wales, it was announced that the threshold for paying Land Transaction Tax (previously known as stamp duty) will be increased from £180,000 from October 10.
It means people buying homes in Wales for less than £225,000 will pay no tax while there will be a small increase in the rate of Land Transaction Tax for homes costing more than £345,000. The Welsh Government said the move is intended to ensure that the threshold for paying tax reflects the rise in the prices of homes over the last two years.
Issuing his important advice for first-time buyers, Martin said: "If you've got a decent deposit and you've found a house that you love, and you've got a mortgage that is affordable for you, and you're going to stay in that property for a long time, get on with it. Buy a house...If you're doing this because 'this isn't really the house that I want but I feel I should do it before everything goes wrong and it all goes belly up,' don't buy a house."
The money-saving expert then asked his co-host Susanna "does that make sense?" to which she responded: "It does make sense."
Martin added: "We're working with so many variables it's incredibly complex right now. There are no firm right answers and I apologise if we play this back in two years time and I was totally wrong. That's possible."
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