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05/05/2026

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05/05/2026

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05/05/2026

https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/industry-insight/average-fixed-rate-falls-for-third-week-moneyfacts-01-05-2026/?utm_id=26542&delivery_name=45947&utm_campaign=INDIGO_MFG_%20EDI%20_Daily_NEWS_010526&utm_content=&utm_term=Read%20More&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra&eea=

Average fixed-rate mortgages have fallen for the third week running, according to the latest Moneyfacts rate watch. The typical two-year fix is now 5.78%,

30/04/2026

https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/market-news/regulation/mortgage-market-accepts-bank-of-england-base-rate-hold-30-04-2026/?utm_id=26460&delivery_name=45782&utm_campaign=INDIGO_MFG_%20EDI%20_Daily_NEWS_300426&utm_content=INDIGO_MFG_%20EDI%20_Daily_NEWS_300426&utm_term=Read%20More&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra&eea=

The mortgage market reacted with acceptance to the Bank of England’s decision to hold base rate at 3.75% today. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

28/04/2026

Interesting post.

You wanted landlords gone. BlackRock heard you.

Every landlord who sold up in yesterday's comments…

and there were dozens….

just freed up a property for an institutional fund to buy.

Not a first-time buyer. A fund.

That's what happens when you make small-scale property investment uneconomic.

Section 24. Regulatory burden. Unpredictable benefit payments. The bloke with two buy-to-lets can't absorb that.

BlackRock can.

And they're already moving.

The people cheering this on need to understand what replaces the small landlord.

Corporate landlords don't give rent holidays during Covid. They don't keep rents below market rate for a long-term tenant. They don't fix the boiler on a Saturday because there's kids in the house and it's January.

Small landlords did that. Imperfect. Frustrated. But local. Accountable. Human.

The replacement won't be.

I know the small landlord model works because I've done it.

I bought a derelict working men's club.

Probate sale. 10,000 square feet of nothing. Split the ground floor into retail. Sold it. Used that capital to convert the upper floors into 13 flats.

Then the council called. They needed emergency accommodation. We agreed a 7-year lease. Guaranteed rent. Paid on time. Every month.

Thirteen families housed. A dead building brought back to life. A council that got units it couldn't build fast enough. And a landlord who earned a fair return for delivering it.

That deal worked because there was a lease. A guaranteed counterparty. The council removed the risk, and I stayed in the market.

Without that certainty, I'm doing the same calculation as Chris from yesterday's post.

And probably arriving at the same answer.

This is what Point 2 of my manifesto looks like in practice. Government-backed leases at fair rates.

Not a handout. A deal.

The council gets units. The landlord gets a return that makes staying rational. The tenant gets a home.

And BlackRock doesn't get another postcode.

"Just build council houses."

Fine. Build them.

But that takes decades at scale. Meanwhile, landlords with properties right now are selling this month.

The fastest way to stabilise supply isn't waiting for a building programme that hasn't started. It's keeping the existing stock in the social market by making the economics work for the people already there.

Stop punishing the providers. Or the only ones left will be the ones big enough to not need your sympathy.

22/04/2026

https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/lending-news/three-quarters-of-self-employed-struggle-to-get-mortgages-pepper-22-04-2026/?utm_id=25862&delivery_name=44523&utm_campaign=INDIGO_MFG_%20EDI%20_Daily_NEWS_220426&utm_content=&utm_term=Read%20More&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra&eea=

Around 300,000 self-employed workers are ready to buy a house but say getting a mortgage is the hurdle, according to Pepper Money research. Research from

10/04/2026

https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/lending-news/mortgage-rates-stabilise-as-iran-conflict-eases-10-04-2026/?utm_id=25172&delivery_name=42973&utm_campaign=INDIGO_MFG_%20EDI%20_Daily_NEWS_100426&utm_content=&utm_term=Read%20More&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra&eea=

Mortgage rates showed signs of stability this week as the conflict in the Middle East began to ease, according to the latest Moneyfacts rate watch.

08/04/2026

https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/banks/growing-demand-for-2-year-deals-as-costs-soar-08-04-2026/?utm_id=25011&delivery_name=42597&utm_campaign=INDIGO_MFG_EDITORIAL_DAILY%20NEWS_080426&utm_content=INDIGO_MFG_EDITORIAL_DAILY%20NEWS_080426&utm_term=Read%20More&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra&eea=

Borrowers are increasingly looking at two-year fixes and variable options in the hope that the current spike in prices will be short-lived, analysis from

02/04/2026

https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.com/lending-news/mortgage-lending-figures/mortgage-prices-keep-rising-as-average-rate-hits-5-76-02-04-2026/?utm_id=24813&delivery_name=41977&utm_campaign=INDIGO_MFG_%20EDI%20_Daily_NEWS_020426&utm_content=&utm_term=Read%20More&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra&eea=

Mortgage rates continued to rise sharply this week, with more than 30 lenders increasing rates, launching or withdrawing products, according to the latest

02/04/2026

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