Let-to-buy mortgages could become more popular

Let-to-buy mortgages have particular advantages when the housing market is slow, according to one mortgage consultant.

Heidi Nuttall of the Alan Boswell Group predicted that such mortgages will become more popular over the next year.

Let-to-buy mortgages allow homeowners to buy a new home while still holding onto their previous property on a buy-to-let mortgage. This mortgage is paid off through rental income.

Ms Nuttall commented: "Let-to-buy is attractive as it removes the need to sell before buying."

She added that such mortgages are particularly attractive when the market is "slow moving".

According to the mortgage consultant, independent mortgage advisers can use their access to the whole market to find the most suitable deal for a let-to-buy purchase.

"To raise a deposit for the new purchase, we would re-mortgage the current home to a buy to let/rental mortgage and then approach a residential lender for the new purchase mortgage," Ms Nuttall suggested.

According to the November housing market survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, this month saw the fourth successive fall in house prices.

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