By Enzo Mora, CEO and founder of The Mortgage Brain 

A flurry of lower mortgage rates has been announced, along with improved affordability criteria. That's great news for our customers.

Santander has lowered its two-year fixed rate first time buyer mortgage with a 60% loan to value for new borrowers by up to 0.07% and two-year fixed home mover rates for 60-75% loans by 0.09%. Skipton Building Society has also reduced rates across its range of fixed rate mortgages.

Our advisers know immediately when rates fall, so all our customers benefit straightaway. Whether they have just started their application or have had it approved, we can still change their mortgage to a better rate.

More good news as customers looking to purchase or remortgage can now also borrow more from Santander. It becomes the first major lender to reduce residential affordability rates, which have been cut by up to 0.75%, bringing them to the lowest levels since 2022. Customers applying for a residential mortgage from the lender can now borrow between £10,000 and £35,000 more, depending on their individual circumstances and subject to affordability checks and loan to income limits.

Market reaction to events across the pond

The Bank of England's next interest rate decision isn't until May 8 and, while a lot can happen in the world markets before then, commentators are suggesting that President Trump's far reaching tariff announcements could make it more likely that the UK bank base rate will drop by another 0.25% to 4.25%. Swap rates used to set base rates have started to fall and these could see lower mortgage rates announced over the next couple of weeks.

New stamp duty thresholds start

From this month, first-time buyers will be exempt from stamp duty on the first £300,000 of the purchase price, with 5% payable on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000. If the price is over £500,000, you cannot claim the relief at all.

For previous homeowners, there is nothing to pay on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £125,001 to £250,000, 5% on £250,001 to £925,000, 10% on £925,001 to £1.5m and 12% on anything above this. Second home owners and buy-to-let landlords will usually have to pay 5% on top of each rate, if they own more than one property.

Our advisers will work out how much your extra costs such as stamp duty and conveyancing fees will add to your budget.

Bigger homes driving house prices

Detached properties have increased in value by more than £100,000 over the last five years, according to Halifax's latest research. Although when it comes to annual growth, terraced houses lead the way with annual growth of +4.5%, achieving an average price £235,296 up by £10,025.

In contrast, flats saw the slowest growth at +3.2%, with an average price of £168,569. Semi-detached houses rose by +3.8% or £11,367 in cash terms, averaging £307,685. Detached houses saw annual growth of +4.1% (£18,704) with the average price of £471,748 - above the pandemic-era peak set in September 2022 (£471,333) and just shy of the new high set in September last year (£472,984).

As I often say, you buy a home primarily to live in, not to make money. Of course, in time a property should grow in value, but paying down an affordable mortgage is the best way to provide security for your future. It's what we intend to put in place for all our customers.

To find out more about The Mortgage Brain, visit www.themortgagebrain.net or call 0333 340 8888.