There’s literally thousands of home loans available to borrowers who are trying to get on the property ladder, so which are the best first-time buyer mortgages?

The good news is that interest rates remain low, despite the increase in the Bank of England’s base rate in February from 0.25% to 0.5%. But best doesn’t always mean cheapest.

As inflation rises to 5.4%, household budgets are under pressure so you might prefer the stability of a long-term fixed rate or a low-deposit mortgage that requires less savings.

That’s why, with almost 3,000 mortgage deals open to first-time buyers according to finance experts Moneyfacts, it’s worth shopping around before choosing your first mortgage.

Aaron Strutt of mortgage broker Trinity Financial says: ‘If you only approach one or two lenders when you’re looking for a mortgage deal you could miss out on the cheapest rate, the most generous income stretches or a greater choice of medium and long-term fixed rates.’

Some banks and building societies offer first-time buyers or professionals a mortgage that is 5.5 times their annual salary to boost their buying power. Some lenders offer even more.

Lenders also offer a range of low or no deposit deals, fee-free options, cashback incentives and mortgage terms of up to 40 years if you want to keep your monthly repayments low.

‘The bank of mum and dad has been busier than ever but there are other guarantor options such as a joint borrower, sole proprietor arrangement to explore,’ explains Aaron. ‘Parents join first-time buyers on the mortgage but they are not added to the title deeds of the property.’

Here’s a round-up of the best first-time buyer mortgages:

Yorkshire Building Society – first-time buyer exclusive

• Rate – 2.36%
• Type – fixed rate
• Duration – two years
• Minimum deposit – 5%
• Mortgage fee – £995

The society offers a free valuation and £250 cash back when the mortgage completes. If you want to repay the loan early penalties will apply. Overpayments of your mortgage are restricted to 10% of your balance each year.

Santander – residential mortgage range

• Rate – 1.64%
• Type – fixed rate
• Duration – two years
• Minimum deposit – 10%
• Mortgage fee £999

With a 10% deposit, first-time buyers can lock into a low fixed rate for two years. The deal comes with Santander’s Homebuyer Solution package which offers a free standard valuation and £250 cash back on completion. Penalties apply if you repay within two years.

Nationwide Building Society – Helping Hand range

• Rate – 2.49%
• Type – fixed rate
• Duration – five years
• Minimum deposit – 10%
• Mortgage fee – £995

First-time buyers can borrow up to 5.5 times their salary. Ten-year fixed rate deals are available along with fee-free options. Self-employed borrowers are excluded. Free valuation and £500 cash back on completion. Mortgage term of up to 40 years allowed. Early repayment fees apply.

HSBC – sub 1% for deposit-rich buyers

• Rate – 1.24%
• Type – tracker mortgage
• Duration – two years
• Minimum deposit – 40%
• Mortgage fee £999

No early repayment charges apply. The mortgage rate is 0.74% more than the Bank of England base rate, currently 0.5% – so you pay 1.24%. If the base rate rises, so does your mortgage rate.

Metro Bank – joint borrower, sole proprietor

• Rate – 2.09%
• Type – fixed rate
• Duration – two years
• Minimum deposit – 25%
• Mortgage fee – £999

Add immediate family members to your application to boost your borrowing power. Everyone named on the mortgage is liable for the debt but the extra applicants are not named as owners of the property. Overpayments of 20% a year are allowed penalty free.

Barclays – Family Springboard

• Rate – 3.7%
• Type – fixed
• Duration – five years
• Minimum deposit – 0%
• Mortgage fee – £0

Family Springboard is a guarantor mortgage. Family or friends must deposit the equivalent of 10% of the purchase price of your property into a Barclays savings account which is locked away for five years. If you keep up to date with your payments for five years, your helpers get their savings back with interest. A 35-year mortgage term is available. Early repayment charges apply.

Image credit: Future PLC/ Robert Sanderson

How to find the best first-time buyer mortgage rates

You can search online for the best first-time buyer mortgage rates using a price comparison website. By submitting basic details such as your annual salary, credit commitments and the value of your deposit you’ll find out how much you can spend on a house and which lenders are offering the cheapest deals.

You can also use an online mortgage broker. After completing an online questionnaire and a credit check you’ll be sent a list of mortgage deals with the cheapest rates tailored to your circumstances.

Or you can ask a traditional mortgage broker to search for the best deals on your behalf. After a phone call or face-to-face interview they will select the best deals for your circumstances rather than just the lowest rates.

The post Best first time buyer mortgages on offer: February 2022 appeared first on Ideal Home.

Installing external wall insulation (EWI) can be a great solution for keeping your home warmer, as well as helping to lower energy bills and improve sustainability credentials. And while most installations go without a hitch and problems are rare, there are some elements to retrofitting EWI that could cause complications. so what can go wrong? We outline the possible external wall insulation problems to be aware of.

External wall insulation problems

‘If you put external wall insulation on the outside of a house then you will be getting a thermal upgrade, but remember that these buildings were not originally designed to have it,’ says Will Kirkman, Managing Director at Ecomerchant. The secret to making sure your existing property will cope with retrofitted EWI comes down to thorough research alongside an experienced and proven installer.

Here are five external wall insulation problems to avoid so you can ensure success.

1. Moisture build-up inside the house

Traditionally built properties were designed to breathe in a way that allowed water vapour to escape through the walls. Wrapping this kind of house with insulation will cut down draughts, which should be a positive thing. But if it’s done poorly, this could also reduce ventilation and air movement, and may even form a barrier that locks moisture in the living spaces. The long-term result: damp and mould.

Image credit: Future PLC/ Liam Clarke

‘Before you make any changes to a property, you need to understand the balance of how you use and heat it, and how that will change once you’ve adding insulation. Things can get worse if a house is shifted out of balance,’ says Will Kirkman at Ecomerchant.

It might be that additional ventilation needs to be added to the house to help keep things in balance. Using vapour-open insulation materials that preserve the breathability of the building fabric is a great solution – namely natural products such as wood fibre. ‘Vapour open before must be vapour open after,’ says Will Kirkman. An expert with a proven track record of working with your building type will be able to advise on the best solution for your unique home. 

2. The wrong wall finish

Following on from the above point, if you’re upgrading an older property with EWI, then it’s not just the insulation that needs to stay vapour-open. There’s no point investing in wood fibre and then covering it over with an inappropriate material like conventional sand-and-cement render. Lime render is a breathable option that could suit this kind of external wall insulation project. Remember: every layer added to the wall should complement the others.

Sometimes modern insulation products and external finishes can be the right solution, even for heritage walls. But this needs extremely careful design by an experienced specialist, as it might involve changing the wall from a breathable wall to a non-permeable wall. Consider cavity wall insulation to provide the best insulation for your home.

3. Planning permission challenges for EWI

Image credit: Future PLC/ Douglas Gibb

Even though adding external wall insulation to a house involves making changes to the external appearance of the building, it does generally fall within permitted development (PD). This means you don’t always need to apply for formal planning permission to add EWI to your house. However, PD rules are not applicable for every home. For instance, they don’t apply in locations where there are planning restrictions, such as conservation areas or listed buildings. 

EWI is generally installed to improve energy performance in solid wall homes, which are more common in traditionally-built, pre-1920 houses. This kind of property may have heritage value, so the local planners might not be keen for you to change their appearance. 

The best thing to do is check that an external wall insulation installation is allowed . Going ahead without such confirmation could result in costly fines or even a removal order. Pre-application advice is one option; or you can apply for a lawful development certificate. If it turns out that you can’t install EWI, then internal insulation could be your best bet.

4. Difficulty insulating around windows and doors

Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo

The frames and reveals at window and doors can pose a challenge for external wall insulation. Leave them uninsulated, and you’ll be creating cold bridges. As the name suggests, these provide a pathway for useful warmth inside the home to escape across the insulated envelope. This can drastically reduce your newly insulated home’s energy efficiency.

Gaps in insulation will also lead to drastic temperature differentials, which can cause condensation to form where warm internal air hits the cold section of wall – ultimately leading to damp and mould issues.

The problem is that window and door frames in traditional homes can be quite narrow. This makes it difficult to treat the reveals (the recessed side walls that join a window/door to the main facade) with standard external wall insulation.

You could switch to super-thin insulation for your property’s window and door reveals, which can achieve the desired performance in profiles as slim as 10mm. The right solution for your home will be decided during the pre-installation survey.

5. Installation mistakes

Image credit: Future PLC

All the above underline the importance of employing an experienced company to design and install the right external wall insulation for your property. 

There are lots of avoidable problems that you could face if you use an inexperienced installer. Such as incorrect fixings used to hold the insulation in place, issues around the depth of roof overhangs and more. Remember that your property is unique and needs a thorough assessment before any work is done. This will ensure your external wall insulation works as it should and you can reap the benefits of a cosy, efficient home. 

‘Issues with retrofit insulation are extremely uncommon and installers approved by industry bodies have to install approved systems to industry technical best practice in order to be issued with a guarantee, which will protect the homeowner,’ says Nigel Donohue, CEO at the Insulation Assurance Authority. The IAA has a list of regional approved installers on its website.

The post External wall insulation problems – what can go wrong? appeared first on Ideal Home.

The most dramatic of colour pairings, black and white is guaranteed to add wow to any room scheme. But when it comes to black and white bathroom ideas, this classic colour combination is always a winner, slipping stylishly into on-trend modern bathrooms or adding period elegance to a traditional bathroom scheme.

Black and white is a versatile colour choice too, whether you want to update a plain white bathroom idea with just an accent of bold black on fittings or want a full-on look with a monochrome colour palette used to full effect. Black and white bathrooms lend themselves perfectly to other colours too, from soft pastels that give just a hint of subtle colour, to saturated tones of teal, emerald and dark grey.

Black and white bathroom ideas

Black and white are perfect together – black absorbs, while white reflects – which is why this combination is such a great choice for creating a real impact for a bathroom colour scheme. Black and white also works well in a functional space, like a bathroom, where bold angles and clean lines tend to dominate.

One of the easiest ways to introduce black and white into a bathroom scheme is with the use of pattern. Whether small-scale geometrics, mid-sized abstracts or oversized stripes and chequerboard squares, patterns will add instant wow and can be worked into a bathroom using wall tiles, flooring, wallcoverings or on towels and accessories.

‘When teamed with white, black can be used anywhere,’ says Nicky Philips, Ideal Home’s Decorating Editor. ‘However it’s crucial to choose the right shades. For a soft monochrome, combine off-white and charcoal, or for a striking effect, use a clean white and strong black.’

Take inspiration from our medley of monochrome looks and work black and white bathroom ideas into your scheme this season.

1. Shift focus with white on black

Image credit: Bathroom Mountain

A half-and-half colour balance can also work well in reverse, with the upper walls painted white and the lower section tiled or panelled in darkest black. Having the darker colour at the bottom helps to create a grounding effect and makes a contrast backdrop for statement baths and basins. A paler colour at the top will draw the eye up and is a clever way of making small bathrooms feel loftier and more spacious.

Consider painted panelling as a wall treatment in black and white bathroom ideas. Panelling is a good cover-up for walls that are less than perfect and can help to disguise ugly pipework. Painting it in a low-sheen eggshell paint will ensure that the finish is hardwearing and easy to wipe clean.

2. Bring balance with black and white in equal measure

Image credit: Future PLC/William Goddard

Black and white are perfect together – black absorbs, while white reflects – which is why this combination is such a great choice for creating real impact in a bathroom.

Baths, basins and loos tend to be mainly white, so most bathroom schemes already include plenty of sparkling white as a starting point. Adding black into the mix will create contrast and is a great way of making an all-white bathroom feel less clinical.

Go halves, by tiling the lower section of bathroom wall in glossy white tiles and the floor in toning tiles to create a seamless transition. Painting the upper wall and ceiling black (or any darker colour) will create the illusion of the ceiling being lower and is a great way of making large bathrooms feel less lofty or can help to disguise a sloping ceiling or uneven roof line.

3. Start small with a simple black and white scheme

Image credit: Nuie

Unsure of bringing black into a bathroom? Introducing black as an accent colour is the perfect compromise and will add a smart edge to a white bathroom. Swapping standard taps and hardware for matt black fittings is one of the easiest ways of working black into a white scheme and will give a plain bathroom a smart, upmarket vibe.

‘In contrast to vibrant colours, monochrome remains an iconic fashion trend, providing a timeless and classic look,’ says stylist Lisa Talbot, summing up the trend for bathroom brand Nuie. ‘It’s the equivalent of wearing black trousers, a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket – but in bathroom design. The contrast between stark white tiles and bold black brassware creates the same glamorous and edgy style that is seen on the high street.’

4. Add wow with statement stripes

Image credit: Future PLC/Colin Poole

For standout style that is an instant attention-grabber, opt for oversized stripes in a black and white bathroom scheme. In a small space with lots of clean lines and equal amounts of black and white, the effect is quite striking.

Instead of opting for pricey striped tiles, cheat the look for less with a savvy styling trick. Buy simple brick-shaped tiles, with half your quota in plain white and half in matt black. Lay tiles vertically, rather than horizontally, to create bold vertical bands of colour and a chic black and white striped effect.

5. Make a black and white bathroom sparkle

Image credit: Future PLC/Simon Whitmore

Keep to strictly black and white bathroom ideas throughout and the effect is guaranteed to look striking, or introduce a punchy accent colour or luxe metallic finish to add contrast, warmth and sparkle.

‘Black provides the perfect foil for metallic accents, such as brass or copper,’ says Alison Teverini, interior designer at Milward Teverini. ‘A bathroom or cloakroom may be the perfect space to start out with black, as the mirrors that are inevitably in there will pop against it.’

Warm-toned metallics, like copper, brass and rose gold make a perfect partner for a monochrome scheme and will add warmth and colour to what can sometimes be a chilly space. An antique copper bath is the ultimate statement piece, but if you don’t want to blow the budget, working in metallic accents here and there is the way to go. Think, brushed copper taps and brassware, light fittings, luxe toiletries and candles.

6. Give a tiled floor the star treatment

Image credit: Future PLC/Clive Doyle

If a monochrome colour scheme throughout is a step too far, get your black and white fix by bringing in the colour combination on a smaller scale. Black and white fall outside the colour wheel so are technically defined as neutrals, which make them the perfect foil for other colours.

Bring a hit of monochrome to a coloured bathroom by focusing on the floor. Opting for boldly patterned floor tiles in punchy black and white will make the floor the focal point of the room and is a great way of introducing pattern into a small bathroom, where it can often be lacking.

7. Accessorise all areas for style on a budget

Image credit: Future PLC/Chris Snook

Looking for ways to update an existing bathroom scheme that has lost its oomph? Black is a brilliant accent colour that will work with most styles of bathroom, from contemporary to traditional, and adding black accessories to a plain white bathroom idea won’t cost a fortune.

Revamping bathroom tiles is one easy way of updating a tired bathroom and it needn’t mean a costly refurb. Replacing dingy grout-lines with dark black grouting will smarten up plain white tiles for an instant transformation.

Swapping bath towels that are looking threadbare or colour-faded is another easy trick that can make a big difference. Mix plain black towels and bathmats with patterned designs in zingy zig-zags, tailored stripes or traditional damasks and florals.

8. Be brave with a bold pattern

Image credit: Walls and Floors

Make a statement in a small bathroom or en-suite with a tiled panel in a bold oversized chevron design. The secret to success with large-scale designs like this is to limit use to just a small, focused area, which will create greater impact than if used wall-to-wall.

Contrast bold monochrome patterns with neutral finishes to bring calm, from natural stone and variegated marble, to rustic timber or burnished metals. Bring in foliage and greenery to prevent a black and white scheme from feeling too cold and clinical. Plants thrive in humid bathrooms, so work them in where you can, from hanging planters and tubs to larger floor-standing palms.

9. Combine black and white with soft pastel shades

Image credit: Future PLC/Simon Whitmore

Monochrome is a versatile colour combination that will sit easily alongside many other colours, materials and finishes. Contrasting black and white with pretty muted pastel pink bathroom ideas can prevent softer shades from feeling too sickly and sweet. While pairing softer shades with black and white will keep monochromes from feeling too harsh and clinical.

Give a small bathroom a rose-tinted glow by teaming white tiles and black fittings with walls painted in a soft blush pink, adding towels, bath mats and toiletries to accessorise.

10. Go wild with an animal print wallpaper

Image credit: Charlton Island

Make a classic white bathroom pop by introducing a bold, standout pattern on the walls. An animal print design in striking black and white will add a playful touch to a plain bathroom and looks super-chic teamed with white painted panelling and brushed gold taps and fittings.

Animal print designs work much like a neutral and will sit well with plains, but the key to making them work is to limit their use. Opt for a panel of wallpaper in a smart zebra print or a chic leopard spot pattern used in a feature area rather than all over. Using too much animal print or mixing lots of patterns can look kitsch and will overpower a small bathroom.

11. Put the focus on a feature panel

Image credit: Crosswater

Creating an eye-catching pattern with black and white tiles is a stylish way of mixing up the two colours in a monochrome scheme. Mix curves and diagonals to create a bold abstract feature area that works brilliantly as a splash back behind a basin area. Keep the rest of the bathroom plain in comparison, with solid blocks of white tiles and black tiles on the floor and in a shower area.

12. Go big with chequerboard tiles

Image credit: Future PLC/Jo Bridges

If bold is your thing, then embrace it in a small bathroom, with striking chequerboard tiles the centre of attention. Running large-format black and white tiles from floor to walls creates an optical illusion that stretches the space and makes it feel bigger. While it’s a clever visual trick that is brilliant for small spaces, there’s no doubt that it’s a brave choice too, so it’s not one for the faint-hearted.

How do you add colour to a black and white bathroom?

There are lots of ways to add colour to a black and white bathroom. In a tiled bathroom, introducing a different colour on the floor, such as a neutral stone, luxe marble or wood-toned vinyl will add an extra dimension. Also helping to bring warmth and colour to a cool black and white scheme.

Painting any wall area that isn’t tiled is another way of introducing colour into a black and white scheme. Go for bold, saturated tones that will add depth and drama, such as vibrant teal, emerald green, navy or charcoal grey. Or consider calmer neutrals and muted pastels that will give a softer look that will make black and white lose its harshness.

How do you soften a black and white bathroom?

To tone down and soften a black and white bathroom, try working in lots of natural textures and neutral colourings, from towels, mats and rugs in soft, muted tones to tactile weaves and woven baskets for storage, with wooden shelves and bamboo rails for hanging towels and bathrobes.

Create an organic feel by working lots of plants and greenery into the mix too. Dot mini succulents and lush, leafy ferns around the bathroom displayed in monochrome pots, woven hanging baskets and floor-standing tubs. When using bathroom plant ideas vary the heights so the greenery is at different levels.

Whatever style you choose, black and white is such a striking theme, you are sure to make an impact with this classic design. Just remember: A little goes a long way. Try adding grey to your colour scheme to soften a stark bathroom, or choose monochrome soft furnishings to give just a nod to this theme.

The post Black and white bathroom ideas for striking monochrome schemes appeared first on Ideal Home.