Virgin Money has launched a new shared ownership mortgage, two purchase products and made some rate cuts.
The shared ownership mortgage is part of the ‘Greener’ category, meaning that properties must have an Energy Performance Certificate rating of ‘A’ or ‘B’, and is available at 90% LTV on a five-year fix at 2.40%. It charges a £995 fee.
Virgin Money has also cut shared ownership rates at 95% LTV by 11 basis points.
Additionally, in the Purchase Exclusive range, which come with £1,000 cashback, the lender has added an 85% LTV five-year fix with £995 fee at 1.99% and a 90% LTV five-year fix with £995 fee at 2.38%.
And in the Core range, rate cuts of up to 14 basis points have taken place on some buy-to-let products alongside rate cuts that comprise:
- The 90% LTV two-year fix with £995 fee has been reduced from 1.99% to 1.89%
- The 95% LTV two-year fix ‘fee-saver’ has been cut from 3.12% to 2.98%
- The 95% LTV five-year fix ‘fee-saver’ has seen its rate decrease from 3.34% to 3.03%.
Virgin Money national sales manager Richard Walker says: “Shared ownership is a key part of the mortgage market and the changes we’ve just announced show our commitment to buyers in this segment.
“The pandemic has led to people evaluating their circumstances and we’re seeing an increase in customers looking to buy their own home as a result.
Recent research shows that the average price of a house in the UK surged to 8.8 times the average income. This was up from a previous high of 8.7 times in August 2007.
There’s been a steady rise in house prices at the same time but because shared ownership needs a smaller deposit, it offers a quicker route for first-time buyers in particular to get that all important foot on the housing ladder so it’s often a welcome alternative for younger buyers.”
And Metro Finance managing director Jon Lord praises shared ownership as “’the most flexible, affordable home ownership product ever designed, with shares available from 10% to 75% on day one.
He continues: “The ability to adjust the share to meet affordability makes it extremely effective for a huge range of income and deposit sizes – the latter starting at just 5% of share.
“Demand throughout 2021 has been extremely high, we expect that to continue into the coming years facilitated in part by government and Institutional funding.”