It’s been a while since we updated you on what’s going on at TMAG!

We hope you had great Summers, Halloweens and Bonfire Nights, and managed to get Oasis tickets, and even though the clocks have gone back, we have fast-forwarded to the final part of the year with Christmas around the corner.

Welcome to the Team Paul & Dannie

Paul Bisseker started with us in July, and it feels like has always been with us. Paul works with Lisa looking after our compliance administration, double checking the cases the brokers work on meet the strict requirements set by our network Primis. He has hit the ground running with his wealth of experience after working in the mortgage industry at one of the largest banks in the UK for 22 years.

Our new receptionist and trainee administrator Dannie Hawthorne has been with us for nearly 2 months now.  If you have phoned or messaged the office recently it’s probably Dannie you have spoken to. She looks after our diary and welcomes clients for appointments as well as supporting the brokers and case managers. She has really impressed us with her can do attitude and confidence.

We hope this is the start of a great and long career for both of them.

We Did It – 500 5 Star Google Reviews

We were over the moon to hit our target of 500 5 Star Google reviews at the Redditch Office.

We now have 677 across the Redditch and Birmingham offices, and our next target is to achieve 200 for Birmingham.

As always – thank you so much to all of our customers who have helped us reach this!

Events

The events season this year has been a little more limited, as we have focused our time and efforts on supporting clients over what has been a very busy period for us.

It’s not been all work and no play though. There have been a few highlights over the last few months to shout about.

Kate qualified for and attended the prestigious ‘Recognising Elite’ event hosted by Primis Network for the 3^rd consecutive year.

This was in a scenic setting in Northern Ireland at the 5* Slieve Donard Hotel. A couple of highlights of this event were the guest speakers from HSBC & Experian with their valuable insights into the future rate forecasts and customer behaviours.

Kate and Khloe went on road to Rockline Industries to provide their employees with the opportunity to get some advice during their break times. This was a huge success, and we hope to work with more local employers in the future off the back of this.

Kate attended the ‘Barclays Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summit & Awards 2024’ at their Canary Wharf Head Office.

This again, featured some incredible guest speakers including Tim Campbell MBE from The Apprentice, and was a real thought-provoking event that really focused on what we can be doing to use our privileges, what ever they may be to create a more diverse and inclusive culture.

Kate was fortunate to attend a lunch with Richard Walker who is the Head of Intermediaries at Virgin Money. These sorts of events are really productive where we are able to share and communicate the issues brokers and customers are facing, and feedback how the lenders can support us even more.

We had a really useful session with Neil Seager from Omerod Rutter Chartered Accountants and brushed up our skills on reading accounts so that we can support our business owners and self-employed customers even further. A large proportion of our client base are self-employed or have limited companies and training from industry experts like Neil is invaluable. Thank you, Neil!

Just a gentle reminder- Self Employed Clients

Self-employed clients planning to remortgage or buy a property in the next few months should get their paperwork for the 2023/24 tax year ready so that it doesn’t delay your application. The deadline for your personal tax assessment is 31.01.2025. You will usually be asked to provide evidence of your earnings for the last two years when you apply for a mortgage or re-mortgage, although some lenders may accept just one year.

Most lenders require your most recent year-end documentation to be no older than 18 months at the time of application. This means that if you’re about to apply for a mortgage, self-assessments for 2022/23 can no longer be used, and you’ll need to provide documents for the 2023/24 tax year instead.

It is generally the lenders preference that an accountant supports you with submitting your tax returns.

Please contact us if you need any further information regarding this, or if you need us to point you in the direction of a 5-star accountant.

There has been LOTS going on in the news, which is impacting what we are doing.

The Bank of England have reduced the base rate by 0.25%, so it’s now 4.75% and The Autumn Budget.

This is a confusing time for us as well as our customers.

We have had a lot of calls from clients since the base rate reduced asking what this means for their current and future applications, and if the rates we have already arranged have gone down.

So, I thought it was important to try and explain what this actually means with regards to your mortgage.

• Nearly all of those on Base Rate Tracker mortgages should see a benefit immediately from the base rate reduction.
• Standard Variable Rates (rates that you normally move onto after a fixed rate if you don’t arrange something different) may reduce, but this is at each lenders’ discretion. We have already seen many lenders reduce these already.
• Fixed rates are not linked directly to the base rate, and other factors such as SWAP rates play a part in the lenders decisions on what they are doing with their fixed rates. A base rate cut can have little or no direct impact on mortgage pricing.
• SWAP rates are based on future market expectations and interest rate trends.
• Despite a drop to base rate, if the market believes the rate drop is temporary or if inflation pressures are expected to continue, SWAP rates will remain higher or even increase which is what impacts the price of current mortgage rates.
• It is most important to understand that it is the SWAP rates that influence the lenders funding costs, which then affects mortgage pricing – not the Bank of England Base rate.

Advice To Our Clients

• If you are coming to the end of your fixed deal, we always encourage you to speak to us 6 months before your current product expires. This advice will never change. We will make sure if rates do reduce over the following 6 months – that you benefit from any lower rates on offer, but it also gives you peace of mind that you have secured a product if rates do increase.
• If you are looking at moving and are currently on a fixed deal, we can review your current product and consider any early repayment charges you would need to pay to exit the deal early, and weigh up on balance if it’s worth paying them for your onward moving plans or ‘porting’ your current product. A lot of our home moving clients are often able to “port” over their existing mortgage to a new property, which means staying with the same lender and avoiding paying any early exit charges, and also preserving the existing rate which may be lower than current rates, and topping up on a new product if extra borrowing is needed. (at lender discretion).
• If you are just generally confused by what’s going on in the mortgage market at the moment, please give us a call and we will do our best to navigate and guide you towards the best product choice for your views and circumstances.

These are the main Autumn Budget changes that may affect your property decisions:

Stamp Duty Immediate Affect

• The Rate of Stamp Duty has increased for those buying a second home or buy to let property immediately. This will rise from an additional 3% to 5%, on top of normal stamp duty rates.

Stamp Duty April 2025

• The stamp duty threshold will drop from £250,000 to £125,000.
• First-time buyer stamp duty relief will drop from £425,000 to £300,000.
• These changes will impact most homeowners, including first-time buyers, home-movers and second-home buyers.

This means that if you’re buying for the first time before then or moving, you will pay more stamp duty from April 2025.

Right To Buy Homes from 21 November

• Maximum discounts are being reduced to £16,000-£38,000 depending on geographical location. West Midlands will be £26,000.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates to increase

With immediate effect, the chancellor confirmed an increase in the rate paid by basic-rate taxpayers from 10% to 18% and from 20% to 24% for higher-rate taxpayers. These changes are effective immediately and align the CGT rates with those on sales of residential property.