Happy New Year!!

There are two key features of personal loans that are essential to grasp for those researching all of the possible options for financing a renovation.  In technical terms, personal loans are unsecured, and pretty much always come at a fixed rate of interest.

Perhaps the easiest way to define the ‘unsecured’ part is through comparison with a ‘secured’ loan.  Mortgages are one of the most common forms of secured loan.  The mortgage loan is granted on the understanding that if you stop making repayments for any reason, the bank can repossess the property, enabling it to recoup some - if not all - of the money it loaned out to you through the mortgage.  Thus, the property provides security on the loan for the lender.

Unsecured loans such as personal loans are not set up with a fixed security arranged from the outset for the lender, should you default on the loan.  If you stop making loan repayments, the lender will of course take measures to get back the money that you owe, such as taking you to court if things get drastic.  However, since there is no asset automatically in place to act as security for the lender, personal loan applications are judged carefully, as they are more risky for the lender.

In the simplest terms, personal loans are only granted to people with reasonable credit histories.  The better a proposition you look in terms of being able to repay, the better terms you will be offer on the deal – or in other words, a lower interest rate.  If you have had a problem with repayments on credit products in the past, however, your application will not necessarily be declined - the loan will most likely offered at a higher interest rate. 

Once this interest rate is offered, following the banks assessment of your financial health, it will then be fixed for the life of term of the loan.  Thus the repayments due on personal loans are predictable, which must be welcomed in the face of all the other uncertain factors that can crop up during renovation.  This fixed rate on interest is again in contrast with secured loans, which almost always come with a variable rate of interest (at least over the long term).  For more information, try looking at the impartial advice provided by the government on personal finance at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/
Consumerrights/ Personalfinance-yourconsumerrights/index.htm.  
 

Winter bedding is not necessarily any thicker than summer bedding, but the materials used and the way the bedding is formed are better at insulting and keeping the heat under the duvet. Additionally, it’s important to get breathable sheets, as despite a drop in temperature, you still sweat during the night in the wintertime.

Here is a short and sweet guide to winter bedding to help you make the right decision. 

Tog rating

The tog rating is a measure of thermal resistance or insulation. The higher the number, the better the insulation. Winter weight duvets should have a tog rating of between 12 and 13.5. However, you can now get ‘combined’ winter and summer duvets with a light 4.5 summer duvet attachable to a mid-weight spring/autumn duvet with a tog value of 9 to 10.5. Together they make up a winter duvet with a tog value of 13.4 to 15. 

Breathability

You need to let your skin breathe whilst you sleep otherwise you will sweat and when you do the sweat will stay trapped on your skin and will actually cool you down if your sheets aren’t breathable. Sheets made from natural fibres are generally more breathable than those made from man-made materials. Cotton is the best, but it does cost more. You can go for a cotton-synthetic mix to maximise breathability on a budget. 

House of Fraser has a large collection of bed linen of various levels to suit all budgets. 

Thread count

Thread count refers to the number of threads per square inch. The higher the number, the better the quality of the material. Sheets with a thread count over 200 are ideal, and if you can afford sheets with a thread count of 500 you will be rewarded with truly luxurious, hard-wearing but soft sheets. 

Feather fillings

Duvets filled with natural fibres use bird feathers from either ducks or geese. Duck feathers are heavier than goose feathers, but both offer the same insulation and breathability. Down are the softer, fluffier feathers found underneath the outer feathers; they provide greater insulation and are softer and smaller. The higher the percentage of down, the more luxurious the duvet but you will have to pay for the luxury.
 

Fixed rate mortgages seem fairly self explanatory, providing a set rate of interest for an agreed period of time, which is typically a couple of years.  Knowing exactly what you’ll have to pay for your mortgage over this time can be very handy when it comes to budgeting, and is therefore particularly attractive to those with tight finances.  However, the rate that these mortgages are fixed at will be higher than the variable alternatives from the same lender, at least at the time you take the mortgage out. 

That being said, variable rates are, well variable, and can be increased rapidly.  What’s more, depending on the type of product, this increase may occur independently of a rise in the Bank of England Base Rate of interest.

 There are basically two types of variable rate mortgages provided by lenders.  Tracker mortgages offer to track in line with Base Rate movements.  Typically, they will track one or more percentage points above the Bank of England Base Rate.

The other type of variable rate mortgages set interest according to the lenders own Standard Variable Rates.  While Standard Variable Rates are influenced by the Base Rate, they can move independently, basically at the lender’s discretion.  Limited period discounted deals are generally offered to encourage borrowers to take out variable rate mortgages, with discounts of up to around three percent off the lender’s Standard Variable Rate not uncommon.

The current record low Base Rate poses an interesting challenge for those deciding on which type of mortgage to go for.   One way of looking at the situation is that tracker and variable rate mortgages cannot get any cheaper – a rise in the Base Rate is the only movement possible - and this will have the knock on effect of increasing the cost of both tracker and variable rate mortgages.

However, the interest rates offered by most fixed deals are considerably higher than that set for the best trackers and variable rate mortgages out there.  Thanks to both the current poor state of growth in the economy, and the projected stagnation for at least the next nine months or so, the Base Rate is unlikely to be increased any time soon.
 

We have teamed up with Purley Youth Project to help them raise the funds they need to keep on keeping on. Cosyhomesonline.com have pledged our support to PYP JUNIORS but we cannot do this without you

Just tell us why you deserve a break and it could be you.

Enter here for your chance to put your feet up!

Good Luck

Sylvia

The show is open from 10am to 5pm. It's a one-stop shop to help first timers get a foot on the ladder. Developers, Housinng associations, legal and financial experts all on hand and seminars throughout the day make sure youre clued up on everything you need to know.

Linda Barker from TVs Changing Rooms will also be there giving a talk on how to make the best of your space.

Free entrance - either register online at www.ftbhomeshow.com or on the day.

Hope to see you there!

Sylvia

"Sylvia has joined Kate Faulkner and Sarah Walker at The National Self Build and Renovation Centre in Swindon so for one day only, you can get all the answers you need from some of the industrys best known gurus…for free!!"

Kate Faulkner of Designs on Property and Writer/TV presenter, Sarah Walker are joined today by Sylvia Marshall at the National Self Build and Renovation Centre. It’s not often that such a range of experience and advice can be found in one place so pop along and get the answers to all things property while they are there today

With little change in the level of house sales or the number of properties on the market since late 2010, Halifax said the steady market conditions have helped to stabilise house prices. And in a further boost the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchases increased by four per cent between May and June to 48,421, the highest monthly total since May 2010.

As shares prices tumble, it is easy to let apathy take over but surely balance has to be the key? Certainly, this would seem to be the case as interest in the more unique investment properties would appear to be on the increase.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Economics and Business Research predicts UK house prices will hit an all-time high by 2015 with average prices climbing by 14%.