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January 25th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
By
Becky Barrow
Last updated at 7:37 AM on 25th January 2012
Mortgage fees have rocketed by nearly 70 per cent over the last year, piling the pressure onto cash-strapped homeowners and first-time buyers, research revealed yesterday.
The average ‘arrangement fee’ has soared to an all-time record of nearly £1,500, which is equal to nearly a month’s take-home pay for the average worker in Britain.
The huge bill is a sting in the tail for tens of thousands of people who hunt each month for the best loan to buy a home.
On the rise: Mortgage fees have rocketed by nearly 70 per cent over the last year, piling the pressure onto cash-strapped homeowners and first-time buyers
It comes at a time when many homeowners are forced to use a credit card, or a pay day loan which charges interest rates of up to 4,000 per cent, to pay their monthly mortgage bill.
The report, from the financial information firm Moneyfacts, said the average arrangement fee was just £889 a year ago.
But 12 months later, ruthless banks have increased the average fee to a painful £1,498 just to take out the mortgage, and before a penny of the actual loan has been repaid.
To make matters worse, there are many other fees which banks charge on top of the arrangement fee, such as legal fees and valuation fees.
Of the 2,749 which charge an arrangement fee, the average is around £1,500 but some of the worst offenders charge up to £4,000.
Experts pointed out that a high fee is not necessarily a bad decision if the interest rate is low, particularly for people taking out a large loan.
Boost: Sir Mervyn King said in a speech last night that there is ¿scope for interest rates to remain low¿
Sylvia Waycot, a mortgage expert from Moneyfacts, said the fees have been increased over the last 12 months despite the Bank of England keeping the base rate unchanged.
It has been held at 0.5 per cent, the lowest level since the Bank was founded in 1694, for nearly two years.
In a boost for homeowners, Sir Mervyn King said in a speech last night that there is ‘scope for interest rates to remain low.’
It comes as official figures, published yesterday, reveal the number of people buying a home has collapsed since the financial crisis began.
Just 869,000 people bought a home last year, nearly half the number who bought in the two years before the crisis in 2006 and 2007 when there were around 1.6million transactions.
Mortgage experts urge people to look at the whole cost of a deal before making a decision, rather than being lured by a low rate.
A spokesman for the Council of Mortgage Lenders said: ‘Although average mortgage arrangement fees may have gone up, average mortgage rates have come down substantially.
‘There are still plenty of lower fee or fee-free mortgages available for borrowers who prefer this option.
‘Mortgage arrangement fees are only one part of the overall cost of the mortgage, and need to be considered alongside the interest rate being charged to get a true cost comparison.’
Recently, the CML director general, Paul Smee, said many people around Britain will spend far longer renting than they had ever imagined.
For the worst-hit victims, who desperately want to buy, they may never achieve their dream.
Speaking at the CML’s conference in north London last year, he said home ownership is an ‘unrealistic assumption’ for many people.
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Yet more examples depicting the true rulers of the land – the greedy bankers – creating more “win, win” scenarios. A new law outlawing “unscrupulous and despicable greed at the expense of the 99%” is required.
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Lets not be fooled. The so called arrangement fee is not the cost of arranging the product plus a reasonable mark-up for overheads and profit. It is an amount of money to cover the perceived risk to the lender should you default on your payments. The bigger the Loan to Value, the higher the risk and hence the higher the arrangement fee. SIMPLESSSS!!!!!!!! if you want to lower the fee then the only way to do this is by having a large deposit. Which is difficult I know.
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When I applied for a mortgage many years ago the limit of lending was 3 times my annual salary without o/time. My house was £10k and I just scrapped through. DM’s estimate of average annual salary £18000, and the average house £160,000, this lending ratio is more like 9. No wonder people can’t afford to buy. Greedy estate agents.
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The dicarded house buyers package was too politicaly focused. Environmental efficiency etc.
However I believe that some things should be changed to reduce the risk cost to house buyers.
1. The seller should have a full structural survey carried out at his expense. This then being made available to prospective buyers. A 1 off survey that would be recouped in the sale.
The survey must be backed up by the surveyors insurance – covering the buyer.
2. Gazumping should be outlawed. Whoever offers the asking price first gets the property.
3. If either party withdraws from an agreed sale a penalty fee must be paid to cover the out of pocket costs of the other party.
4. Buyers must have finance arranged prior to making purchase offers.
These changes would reduce the stress in buying selling property.
It should also reduce the risk cost.
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“Average wage £1500 a month.. then that makes the average wage £18000 a year where does this £26000 benefits cap come from then, DM please balance your facts.” @ 7.52
I normally agree with you when they make up facts but if you open your blinkered eyes for 1 second….”nearly equal to TAKE HOME PAY” therefore after tax, thus receiving a salary of around £24K.
Not that I am disagreeing with the CAP, I think it should be MUCH lower.
I am just fed up of people commenting without looking at the detail.
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If £1500.00 is the take home pay then £26000.00 P.A. doesn’t pan out. The average house price is around £160,000.00 which also doesn’t work. No wonder the bankers are laughing at home owners, and along with grasping estate agents they gazzumped the value of property to unrealistic levels.
Of course a lot of people thought they were making money by buying and selling a house rather than owning a family home and assumed it would increase in value. Final analysis, Greedy Devils.
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In plain simple language GOUGE after all they are earning more that the interest rate they are required to pay a the base rate! Just plain greed !
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No wonder most people and friends if mine that own their home never have any money on their pockets!!
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Last year we spent nearly £3k on fees, valuations and all sorts of reports… Only to be told we could not get a mortgage as there was Japanese knotweed next to the house. Only to find out later that there was no such thing there but by then we already forked out another eye watering sum for valuation fees on another house…
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Average wage £1500 a month.. then that makes the average wage £18000 a year where does this £26000 benefits cap come from then, DM please balance your facts.
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