What the papers said about new offerings and holiday lets

This weekend’s financial press highlighted the variety of new products coming on to the market, as lenders look for new and interesting ways to attract borrowers. The Telegraph discussed a new flexible mortgage from NatWest, allowing homeowners access to a pre-agreed ‘flexi-pot’ facility that can be accessed at any time, alongside the ability to make unlimited overpayments. The Times revealed that specialist bank Investec would now be automatically switching customers to its base rate tracker rather than its Standard Variable Rate when they came to the end of their incentive period. For older borrowers there was news that Nationwide Building Society is the first of the major high street lenders to enter the later-life market, and will be offering schemes including Equity Release and Retirement Interest Only (RIO). The Vernon Building Society, meanwhile, has launched an offset RIO mortgage, allowing borrowers to offset any excess funds against their mortgage and reduce the amount of interest paid. Elsewhere the Sunday Times reported on holiday lets, and predicted that lenders could see an increase in the number of applications for mortgages on this type of property, particularly following the latest tax squeeze on landlords. Part of the appeal of holiday let mortgages is the more favourable tax treatment they receive, as they are treated as a business. Experts warned however of the importance of understanding the pitfalls too – the higher potential for ‘empty’ periods out of season, the increased admin and cleaning costs, and more limited selection of mortgages to choose from.