Coronavirus and mortgages, your questions answered

As lockdown restrictions ease and people want to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, we are seeing more activity in the housing market. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty, particularly over mortgage availability. On the one hand, interest rates are at an all-time low. On the other, lenders have reduced the number and range of mortgages they offer. If you are thinking about moving home or remortgaging, you may be wondering how this could affect you. Here Holly Stevens, Head of Residential Property with Ware & Kay in York, cuts through the confusion and answers some of your questions. As a first-time buyer, will I still be able to get a mortgage? Since the pandemic, lenders have generally become more cautious and risk-averse. Most have now withdrawn their low deposit mortgage deals from…

Your commercial property portfolio – time to restructure?

A commercial property portfolio is just like any other investment - to get the best out of it, you need to manage it well, and sometimes it will benefit from being restructured. The unforeseen impact of Covid-19 on the whole of the UK economy has underlined the importance of keeping on top of your property investments, so you are able to move quickly when you want to grab an opportunity or mitigate risk. A good commercial property lawyer will get to know your property portfolio as well as you do.  The more closely we are involved, the more we can do to help you plan your strategy and head off problems before they arise. Careful planning and regular reviews of your property investments will give you the best chance both to prosper in good times and…

Release of lockdown: continuing or ending homeworking

Although lockdown is easing, government guidance advises people to continue to work from home if possible.  Meanwhile, the media is reporting that some employers are deciding to keep staff working from home. Homeworking has advantages; it eases the immediate difficulties of making workplaces COVID-secure and, longer-term, it can significantly reduce the overheads for a business. Employers bringing staff back to the workplace may wish to take stock of recent homeworking arrangements in preparation for any second spike in coronavirus or a localised lockdown. Gillian Reid explains how to get homeworking arrangements in order and looks at particular challenges for managers of remote teams, as well as how to deal with an employee who has had enough of homeworking. Employers ending homeworking arrangements may face a wave of flexible working requests. You should check the Government website…

Varying maintenance payments due to Covid-19 hardship

The coronavirus pandemic has turned most of our world upside down, causing economic hardship for many people and job losses are expected to continue as the furlough scheme comes to an end. ‘If you have lost all or part of your income, your ability to pay or rely upon maintenance payments will be a cause for concern as you seek to manage cash flow,’ says Robert Bellhouse. ‘Uncertainty over child maintenance adds another level of stress for parents who are struggling to cope with home-schooling.’ Maintenance payments typically fall into two categories, spousal maintenance and child maintenance, which we look in turn and outline your options if you are worried about paying or receiving maintenance. Spousal maintenance Spousal maintenance may be paid because of a voluntary agreement during divorce proceedings or by way of a court…