POUND NOTES
LLOYDS HELPS FIRST-TIME BUYERS
LLOYDS Bank has reintroduced its Lend a Hand mortgage to assist more first-time buyers get on to the property ladder with help from their families.
Buyers can borrow between 95% and 100% of the purchase price of a home with this mortgage, which has a threeyear fixed rate of 3.25%.
A family member needs to provide up 10% of the loan as security. This is kept in a Lend a Hand fixed savings account paying 1.65%. They get their money back, plus interest, after three years, provided all repayments are up to date.
Jasjyot Singh, mortgages director at Lloyds Bank, says: “Reintroducing our Lend a Hand mortgages will help families support each other by rewarding customers in a low-rate environment and helping first-time buyers on to the property ladder.”
WINTER DIY BOOM EXPECTED
THE winter lockdown is set to create a home-improvement boom with stores expecting to see a jump in DIY sales.
Figures from the British Home Enhancement Trade Association show £4.94bn could be spent on homes before Christmas, with more than a third of households planning jobs.
That’s £350million more than was spent during the same period last year.
Research from Powered Now, a mobile-based billing, invoicing and quotation app for trades, found that one in five Brits agrees that the second lockdown has influenced them to tackle home improvements sooner than planned, and one in eight trades people is seeing their highest demand ever.
JOB SECURITY FEARS
COVID-19 job cuts are causing people aged over 55 to re-think retirement plans, new research from Standard Life reveals.
Almost four in 10 are now more worried about job security, with redundancy one of the biggest financial concerns for this age group.
A third would retire early if they faced redundancy in the next 12 months, yet two in three over-55s have no plans to seek financial advice.