Banks cut mortgage deals

Barclays has cut how much it will lend via mortgages to new customers and those already part way through the application process. Experts said lenders have become increasingly nervous about unemployment – fearing a sharp rise in redundancies and a fall in wages when the Government's furlough scheme comes to an end in October. As a result, Barclays has slashed how much money it will lend to a mortgage applicant as a multiple of their income. Buyers can now only get a mortgage 4.49 times their annual salary, down from 5.5 times. Meanwhile, HSBC has pulled its mortgages for first-time buyers with small deposits because it could not cope with demand. It was the only big lender to offer 10% deposit mortgages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Daily Telegraph (04/09/2020)   The Times (04/09/2020)