Would you buy a house now with the run up to the vote?

james_uk

Hi, I am currently in the situation were me and my girlfriend have found our first house and using the help to buy scheme, the house is still being built and should be ready for the end of this summer.

We have been given the go ahead and are currently sorting out solicitor fee's like land search fee's etc.. But no contracts have been exchanged yet. the solicitors are also just at the stage of gathering all our info like proof of id, bank statements etc.

I have now got myself a little worried about the timing of us buying this house and the EU vote that is happening in June, i assume because we have a fixed 5 year mortgage that cannot change regardless of the vote due to it being a fixed rate or am i wrong?

I guess i am a little worried about the talk that if we vote to leave the EU that mortgages may rocket so i have heard of the news etc..

Or is this mealy all guessing at the moment and that may not happen, or is it a pretty good guess that if we do leave, interest rates will go up?

Would you buy right now or wait till after the vote?
Or should i just not worry and enjoy the fact i have just got a new house?

Regards

James

Generali

FWIW, I wouldn't worry about the vote. Politics rarely has any long-term impact on asset values and any loss you do face is stretched out so far into the future as to be meaningless.

I'd only advise differently if you are planning on selling again quickly. That might make me think twice.

Normally the T&Cs of fixed mortgages are such that the interest rate can only change by:

1. Mutual agreement
2. You paying a hefty fee
3. You defaulting

Johnsmith2016

Not read your post.. I just scrolled down. Yes. Would make no difference to me. Unless I was buying it as an investment and not a home.

PasturesNew

It wouldn't even occur to me to worry about any vote, or anything going on politically. If you want/find a house that you like and can afford and if it's the right point in your life to buy a house, then you can ignore anything else going on in the world. With the exception of a world war, any time is a good time to buy a house you like.

'Worrying' is for game-players, people who are trying to be clever (in their mind) by buying specific types of houses, for strategic/investment reasons.

Your average person in the street, who simply gets up in the morning, goes to work, then comes home and wants to put their feet up and watch the telly don't need to take any notice of what others are up to really.

Wenlock

Interest rates will rise in due course whichever way the EU vote goes.

A 5 year fix sounds like a sensible option in your case.

mayonnaise

james_uk wrote: »

I have now got myself a little worried about the timing of us buying this house and the EU vote that is happening in June, i assume because we have a fixed 5 year mortgage that cannot change regardless of the vote due to it being a fixed rate or am i wrong?

I guess i am a little worried about the talk that if we vote to leave the EU that mortgages may rocket so i have heard of the news etc..

Your mortgage will indeed be fixed for 5 years, regardless of any base rate changes.
I don't expect mortgages rates to rocket after an eventual brexit to be honest. The decline will be gradually, job security in an isolated Britain cut off from the rest of the world will be a bigger concern than a percent here or there on your mortgage.
Good luck!

padington

I imagine, If we brexit we may well rocket into negative interest territory to give the economy a boost as times get trickier for a while.

Personally I only see rates going one way and that's down.

However we have the BTL market currently being hobbled and it was those buyers that pushed prices up, always going more than first time buyers would or could. That's going to have a huge impact on prices and imagine it's the end of HPI as we know it.

So whatever you do, buy to save paying rent and to be rent free in 25 years but don't buy thinking that the future HPI will be like the past. It won't. Things are going to get a lot more Germanic and boring. Rent controls of sorts will inevitable come in and and that will make property a very very dull investment.

However supply and demand will keep things Buyont over the mid to long term but very boringly so with more down years in the mix yet to come.

Unless Osbourne doesn't introduce his BTL tax plans or suddenly throws something into the mix nearer the election that adds rocket fuel back on to the fire.

brit1234

All the negative news about the housing market with buy to let changes, brexit, Panama papers, sanctions and china troubles is definitely getting me to save more for my deposit harder.

I don't want a Brexit, but the impact in lower property prices would be welcome.

lisyloo

If it's the right decision of you long term and it's a home then go for it.
Long term it will be a good decision to buy.

jaydeeuk1

I've bought a house, just waiting to exchange but should be done and dusted by end of May. I've gone for a 10 year fixed at 3.89 with max LTV we were allowed simply because we don't know what will happen. If prices plummet (and I'd be quite happy for that) its our forever home anyway not an investment, or if interest rates rocket then the extra loan we've taken will sit happily earning more interest than the mortgage costs anyways. TBH, I can't see anything happening even if we vote brexit for several years, if not a decade, will be a messy divorce. By which time Labour will get in, and bring us back in to the EU.

antrobus

james_uk wrote: »

...Or should i just not worry and enjoy the fact i have just got a new house?...

That one.

Stuff happens. But you have to live somewhere.