On 13th June, Abbey bank launched it’s range of 100% mortgage loans which can be arranged for a maximum value of £500,000. These new 100% mortgage deals require no deposit and incur a set charge for all levels of borrowing.

The 100 Mortgages are available at 6.29% as a two year tracker mortgage, from 6.35% for a two year fixed mortgage, 6.99% for a three year fixed mortgage and 6.79% for a five year fixed mortgage.

Abbey expect their new offers to be attractive to the first-time buyer market and recently divorced individuals who are looking to get back on the property ladder.

Abbey have acknowledged that for first-time buyers, acquiring a deposit for a property today can be difficult due to high property prices.

While the new 100% mortgages are being seen as meeting a market need Abbey are quick to point out that they have a responsibility to only lend what people can afford and that applicants for their 100% mortgages have a responsibility to inform Abbey on their circumstances. Abbey have stated that they are “not in the business of writing bad loans”.

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An online database of property prices has shown a significant difference between the price that sellers originally ask for and the price that their properties actually sell for.

Propertysnake.co.uk works by indexing the Rightmove property site for homes for sale and notes not only the asking price, but also the selling price of all available properties. In this way, Propertysnake builds a picture of the property market across all regions of the UK.

Contrary to the popular image of a booming sellers market with ever increasing prices, Propertysnake has shown that a sigficant proportion of properties sell for much less than their original asking price - sometimes up to 40%.

While not an official report on the state of the property industry, the information available on Propertysnake may give hope to potential homebuyers who are seeing their chances of owning a home decreasing every day.

Research by L&C Mortgages suggests that individuals with a bad credit history can still access mortgage deals from high street lenders such as Abbey.

Competition between rival mortgage providers has led to bigger mortgage providers offering bad credit mortgages for consumers who previously may not have had access to such mortgage products. Reaching out to individuals who’s circumstances fall outside the previously accepted norms for a mortgage applicant has led to a shift in the product range of mortgage providers from generic products to mortgages covering a range of niche markets such as bad credit mortgages.

The bad credit mortgage market or “sub-prime” sector to give it it’s proper name, is one of the biggest niches in the mortgage industry and has been estimated to be worth approximately £30 billion.

There is concern however, that the increased accessibility of bad credit mortgage products may destabilise some providers as they stretch their resources to cover the sub-prime market in an attempot to increase their own profits. It has already been seen in the US that some lenders have had to write off large losses due to the risks of selling to the sub-prime mortgage market becoming real.

With this knowledge market experts are advising providers not to focus too heavily on bad credit mortgages for the sake of short-term rewards and to look at strategies that will aid long term financial stability.

With a record numbers of CCJ’s and bankruptcies being seen in the UK in the last couple of years, this is something which both mortgage providers and consumers cannot ignore.

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Having announced last month that it would be targeting the first-time buyer market, Abbey has added that it’s venture into 100% mortgages will happen “very, very soon”.

Stephen Best, key relationships manager at Abbey, stated: “It has been widely trialled, and we will be producing a product for more than 100% very very soon.”

First Time Buyers will soon be able to take advantage of Abbey’s 100% Loan-To-Value mortgage, but the firm refused to discuss the possibilities that it would produce mortgages for over 100%.

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