Mortgage lenders cut maximum borrowing level
LONDON (Reuters) - Eleven mortgage lenders have reduced the amount of money they will lend to home-buyers, as expectations of a property price slowdown grow.The 11 have cut their maximum loan-to-value (LTV) on at least some products since the start of December, price comparison service Moneyfacts.co.uk said.
Some lenders, including the Cumberland and the Yorkshire building societies, have stopped offering 100 percent mortgages, while others, including Newcastle Building Society, will now only offer such loans when the borrower has a guarantor.
Meanwhile, Alliance & Leicester, Scottish Widows Bank, Barnsley Building Society, Britannia Building Society, Egg and Pi have cut the maximum amount they will lend to 90 percent of a property's value from 95 percent on at least some products.
"This is an understandable about-turn from the lending strategies we have witnessed over the last five years or so, when lenders pushed LTVs to highs of 130 percent, with 95 percent products considered the norm," said Moneyfacts mortgage analyst David Knight.
"This more cautious approach of lenders starting to reduce their exposure to the property price fluctuations shows that they have a real concern over the future of the UK housing market.
"With mounting evidence that housing prices are cooling, combined with the increasing number of borrowers facing debt problems, it is not welcome news for those consumers with only a small amount of equity."
Annual house price inflation fell to 9.5 percent -- its weakest rate in a year -- in November, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Most analysts expect house prices to be flat during 2008, with some areas faring worse than others.
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