This notice is being provided to you because we are just about to collect personal data from you. It is issued by New Mortgage Finance Limited, trading as NM Finance. It explains how we use your personal data.
Lawful conditions for processing personal data
We will only process your personal data when we meet one of the following lawful conditions:
When we have a lawful contract with you;
When it is our legal duty;
When we have a legitimate interest;
If we need to act in your vital interests; or
When you have provided us consent to process it.
If we process your personal data that has been obtained from someone other than you, we will let you know without undue delay.
Who is collecting your personal information
NM Finance, Portal House, 7b Alkmaar Way, Norwich International Business Park, Norwich, NR6 6BF. The point of contact for all personal data related queries is the Data Privacy Manager.
Why we collect your personal information
We collect personal information provided by you to enable us to create a contract with you which we then fulfil in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract and our Data Protection Policy. We also need to collect your personal information to meet the legal & compliance obligations placed upon us.
Your information may also be used for other specific purposes but only after you have given your consent, for example, to receive newsletters.
Automated decision
When obtaining a Decision in Principle (DIP), also referred to as an Agreement in Principle (AIP), we submit your information via the Lender’s online automated decision-making process. We do not use any in-house automated processing mechanisms.
Appointees who are instructed to act on your behalf, for example a solicitor.
We will never sell or share your information with marketing companies.
Security of your personal information
We take all reasonable technical and procedural precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information. All business data is stored off-site on a server at a secure location and managed by a trusted third-party contractor. NM Finance Ltd do not operate internationally; our business services are limited to the United Kingdom.
Retention of your personal information
We will retain your information for as long as it is needed to provide you with our services and manage our relationship and also to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. In practice this could be throughout your lifetime, but this does not prejudice your right to request that your personal data is no longer processed by us (The Right to Object).
Your Rights
The GDPR extends your rights in respect of your personal data. It should be noted that these are qualified in so much that they do not necessarily apply in all situations. The ‘rights’ are listed below.
Right to be informed;
The right to access;
Right to rectification;
Right to erasure;
Right to restrict processing;
Right to data portability;
Right to object; and
Rights related to automated decision making.
For a more detailed explanation about each of these rights please look at our Data Protection Policy or the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website using
Exercising your rights and access to your personal information
If you wish to exercise your right to access to your personal data, please contact the Data Privacy Manager. We will then contact you to check your identity and may request documents to prove it. For all other queries regarding our processing of your personal data and the exercising of all of your rights, please contact the Data Privacy Manager.
Your options if you have a complaint
If you do have cause for concern or a complaint regarding the way we are handling your personal data, we ask that you contact us in the first instance. This way we can resolve any issues at the earliest opportunity.
If you are still unhappy, or you do not wish to contact first you are, in any event, entitled to complain to the ICO. You may also seek judicial remedies against us or any of the third parties we interact with on your behalf, for damages (both material and non-material) arising from breaches of the GDPR. For more information please visit the ICO website using https://ico.org.uk.
Let us help you to navigate the world of mortgages by answering some of the most common questions we get asked by First time buyers.
What is a mortgage?
A mortgage is usually a loan sanctioned against an asset like a house or a commercial property. The lender keeps the asset as collateral until the borrower repays the total loan amount.
What are the different types of mortgages?
Capital Repayment
The vast majority of residential mortgages are capital repayment. This means that you are reducing your overall debt, with interest paid on the amount of the decreasing balance. At the end of the mortgage term, the balance will be £0, and the property will be debt-free. A property with no mortgage secured against it is known as unencumbered.
Interest Only
Only the interest is paid on an interest-only mortgage. This means that the overall debt balance does not decrease, you will owe the same amount at the end of the term as you did on day 1 of the loan. There are strict FCA rules around interest-only mortgages and lenders will only accept your application if you can demonstrate a robust strategy for repaying the debt in full at the end of the mortgage term.
Part Interest Part Repayment
As the name suggests, part of the mortgage is on capital repayment, part of the mortgage is on interest only. The capital repayment part of the mortgage will reduce, but as above, you will need to provide a robust strategy for repaying the interest-only debt at the end of the term.
What is stamp duty?
You must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to the government if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland. Your solicitor will usually calculate this on your behalf at the point of completion, adding the amount due to their fee.
What affects the mortgage rate offered to first time buyers?
Many variables impact the mortgage rate that you may have access to such as house price, loan to value, and your credit history.
What are mortgage fees? (different from professional fees)
Some mortgage products will include an arrangement or set-up fee for your mortgage. Whilst researching the market on your behalf, New Mortgage finance includes fees in any cost calculation, analysing the ‘true cost’ of each available mortgage and recommending the best fit for you.
Most mortgage lenders will allow you to add this fee to the loan, but this will mean you pay interest on it for the whole mortgage term.
What rate will I get as a first time buyer?
Every mortgage application is different, and the rates you receive are dependent on your specific circumstances.
Generally, the lower the LTV, the lower the rate. The best rates are available once LTV drops below 60%.
What does LTV mean?
LTV = Loan to value. This is the ratio between the value of the property being mortgaged, and the size of the mortgage being secured against it.
A £60,000 mortgage on a house worth £100,000 would result in a LTV of 60%.
Typically, the lower the LTV, the smaller the risk for the mortgage lender, and the better the rate you will receive.
How much deposit do I need to have saved?
The minimum you will need is 5%, although the product range is very limited. A 10% deposit will give us a larger range of product options from which to recommend. The bigger the deposit, the better the rate, see LTV above.
What is equity?
Equity is the proportion of a property that does not have a mortgage secured against it. eg. A £100,000 house mortgaged at £60,000 would have £40,000 equity.
What is a decision in principle or an agreement in principle?
A decision in principle (DIP) or agreement in principle (AIP) is a document that states the level of mortgage borrowing available to you based on your income and credit history. The level of available borrowing can change once a full Fact Find has been completed and your case has been underwritten by the lender.
What is underwriting?
Mortgage underwriting is the process a lender uses to determine if the risk of offering a mortgage to a particular borrower is acceptable and is a part of the mortgage application process.
How quickly will my purchase complete?
It can take around 6 months to buy a house, but this varies from move to move. On average it’s 20-90 days to find a house, 15-30 days to receive a mortgage offer, 20-30 days for solicitors to exchange contracts then 10-30 days to complete and get the keys.
What is the exchange of contracts?
Exchanging contracts is the penultimate step in a house purchase, occurring after a solicitor has carried out all necessary searches and there is agreement to the contract terms – it is followed by completion, when you get the keys and the house is yours. Once each party has signed the contracts and they have been exchanged, they are binding. If something catastrophic happened to the house (eg a fire) between exchange and completion you would still be legally bound to complete the purchase so it is important that property insurance is in place at the point of exchange.
How much does it cost to buy a house?
In addition to the cost of the property, you will be responsible for-
What’s the longest mortgage (term) a first time buyer can have?
Lenders are offering terms to younger customers up to 40 years. But you should always consider that a longer term will mean that you will pay more interest, and pay more overall. As part of our service, we can talk you through payment projections over different term lengths, demonstrating how much interest can be saved by shortening your term.
Can my parents guarantee my mortgage?
Often referred to as a JBSP mortgage, a joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage allows a parent (or family member) to contribute to their son or daughter’s mortgage without being a co-owner. Their income and circumstances would be factored into the mortgage application, increasing the level of borrowing possible. This is sometimes known as a guarantor mortgage.
I’ve been given some money for a deposit, how does it work?
Many FTBs utilise gifted deposits. Gifted deposits are very common and don’t normally cause any issues with lenders. The individual providing the gift will be required to sign a declaration that the money is a gift, with no expectation of repayment.
Can I fix my payments long-term?
Rates can be fixed when taking out a new mortgage, typically for 2,5 or 10 years.
When on the first rungs of the property ladder – it might make sense to fix for a shorter period. If your property increases in value, so does your share of equity- this lowers your LTV meaning you could get a better deal when renewing. You might not get this opportunity to switch to a cheaper product if you fix long term.
Remember – if you exit a mortgage whilst in a fixed-rate period, your lender will enforce an early repayment charge (ERC). This can be as much as 5% of your total loan. Always keep this in mind when fixing for longer periods, as making changes down the line can become very expensive!
What happens at the end of my fixed rate period?
NM Finance will contact you approximately 4 months prior to the end of your fixed rate period. At this point we will complete a new fact find, recording any changes in your circumstances before researching the entire mortgage lender market, finding and arranging the best product for you to move to. This is called a re-mortgage. If a new product is not arranged you will revert to you lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) which is usually significantly higher than a preferential rate, resulting in a large uplift in the monthly payment amount.
When should I get a mortgage? (ie at what point in the process of buying a property?)
It’s prudent to make initial enquiries as soon as you think about buying a house or moving- without making initial enquiries you won’t know how much you can borrow, and what house you can afford.
What does affordability mean and why is it important for first time buyers?
Affordability is a calculation used by a lender to ascertain if you can afford, based on income and existing commitments, the mortgage you are applying for.
How much can I borrow?
There are many variables that impact the level of borrowing available to you, such as your income, existing credit commitments, credit history and individual circumstances. Lenders typically allow up to 4.5x income. If you are applying alone, this will be your income only, if you are buying with someone else, multiples of your combined income will be used to calculate the total mortgage available to you.
Credit History
Lenders will review all of your existing credit commitments as part of the application process. Any commitments that you already have may impact the total mortgage available to you. This includes, but is not limited to; car finance, credit cards, loans, store cards & finance. Your conduct around these commitments is also considered – missed or late payments will negatively affect your application. Mortgage calculators or comparison sites may not factor existing credit into initial results, you should not make any financial commitments until a full fact find has been completed by an experienced mortgage broker to calculate your exact level of borrowing.
Are there specialist first time buyer mortgages available?
Shared Ownership
Shared Ownership is a government scheme to help people with smaller deposits get on the property ladder. You can apply to buy a portion of your property, and then you pay rent on the remaining portion. If you want to gradually increase how much of the property you own, you can ‘staircase’ – buying more of it in chunks until you own the whole thing.
Help to Buy
Help to Buy is a government-backed scheme that aims to help first time buyers onto the property market.
Help to Buy provides eligible buyers with an equity loan (also known as shared equity) of up to 20% of the value of a new build home. The government provides the 20% loan so the buyer only needs to raise a 5% deposit, with a 75% mortgage making up the rest.
You should always bear in mind the long-term consequences of shared equity. After 25 years of the loan period, you will be required to pay it off in full. As an equity loan, the loan will be proportionate to the value of the property at the time 25 years on rather than a fixed figure, which means you could be paying back significantly more than you first borrowed.
What can I do before applying, to increase the chance of getting a mortgage?
Top tips for getting a mortgage
1. Save a larger deposit.
2. check your credit rating.
3. pay off unsecured debts.
4. don’t apply for any new credit.
5. make sure you’re on the electoral roll
6. sever any financial links with ex-partners
7. make sure your income can be proved.
What is mortgage protection insurance?
Mortgage payment protection insurance (or ‘MPPI’) allows you to continue paying off your mortgage if you are no longer receiving a secure income.
Do I have to talk to the in-house broker at the estate agent?
No, you do not. Some estate agents will insist you to talk to their broker, but you are under no obligation to do so. It’s worth bearing in mind that some estate agent brokers can only recommend from a limited panel of lenders, meaning they may not have access to the best deal for you. NM Finance are whole of market, and review every mortgage available on your behalf. Give the estate agent NM Finance’s details, and we can provide them with the documentation that proves that you can afford that amount you are offering for the property – this document is called a DIP or AIP.
Why should I use a mortgage broker?
NM Finance has over 20 years of experience arranging mortgages for our customers. We are experts in the mortgage field and will be with you every step of the application and house buying process. The mortgage market has become more complicated than ever, with hundreds of options available. When making the biggest financial decision of your life, it’s vital that you get the right advice.
How do I find a solicitor?
There are thousands of solicitors in the UK who complete conveyancing. Price, as well as the quality of service, varies enormously.
NM Finance can suggest a conveyancer, should you need any assistance.
Does NM Finance offer a referral reward?
Word-of-mouth recommendations are incredibly valuable to us and can also be to you. Refer family, friends, clients, or associates and receive £100 upon completion of their loan/mortgage.
IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP PAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE, YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE REPOSSESSED.
Got questions about your mortgage? Can we help with your plans?
