LTV, APR, DTI... it's enough to make your head spin. Let us break it down for you. Dig into our content to learn more about house hunting, first-time buyer mortgages, interest rates and so much more.
Looking to boost your tax-free savings? Keep reading to find out how many cash ISAs you can have, and the rules around opening more than one.
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A cash ISA is a special type of savings account where you can earn tax-free interest. Anyone over the age of 18 can open one - they’re particularly useful if you’ve already maxed out your LISA allowance for this year and want to save more, or you’re a higher-rate or additional-rate taxpayer.
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When you pass away, the value of any savings, investments, assets and material possessions will be added together to form your estate. If you have a life insurance policy, the payout may be added to your estate too, but does this mean you’ll need to pay inheritance tax on it? Let’s take a look at how inheritance tax and life insurance work.
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If you're looking for life insurance, one of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make is whether to choose a level term or decreasing term policy. But what’s the difference and which one is right for you?
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Life insurance can offer your family financial protection if you pass away, but which type of insurance should you choose? Let’s take a look at how decreasing term life insurance works and whether it’s worth it.
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You want to save for your first home so you can stop renting, but rent is so expensive and it’s difficult to save for home...so what are you supposed to do? Let’s talk about the Rent to Buy scheme and how it could help you buy a home.
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Critical illness insurance can protect you and your loved ones from the financial impact of a serious illness or injury. If you’re diagnosed with a listed medical condition during your policy term, you could receive a tax-free lump sum, regardless of whether you’re able to work or not. But is critical illness insurance worth it and how much does it cost?
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If you’ve saved a house deposit and you finally feel ready to buy your first home, the next step is to get a Mortgage in Principle. This is essentially a document which says ‘this person could afford to borrow £££….’ Once you’ve got a Mortgage in Principle, you’ll have a good idea of what type of property you can afford and in which location. This can make the house-hunting process so much easier. You’ll avoid falling in love with homes that are out of your budget and you’ll usually find that estate agents and sellers will take you more seriously too. But how reliable is a Mortgage in Principle?
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If you’re a first-time buyer under the age of 40, a Lifetime ISA could make it easier to save a deposit towards your first home. You can save up to £4,000 a year in your LISA and the government will boost your contributions by 25%, giving you a bonus of up to £1,000 each tax year. If you’re able to save more than this or you’ve already built up a decent house deposit fund, you might be wondering if you can have a cash ISA and a Lifetime ISA at the same time.
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In this article, we’ll explain how the Own New schemes work, and whether they are the right option for you.
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What if we told you there’s another way for your friends and family to help you buy a home. It’s called ✨ Gift Links ✨ Say goodbye 👋 to reciting sort codes over the phone, and say hello 👋 to having a personal Gift Link that your loved ones can use to add money straight into your Tembo Lifetime ISA 💸 Saving up for a house is a mammoth task - on average it takes 10 years to save up a house deposit! Thanks to rising house prices, buying a home is getting harder, with almost half of first-time buyers relying on family support to make homeownership happen. While not everyone’s family can support their house purchase, with Gift Links, the minimum contribution is just £10, so your friends and family don’t need thousands of pounds to contribute to your dream of buying your first home.
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Saving for a house is a huge goal to work towards, and can feel daunting to start or keep up with - especially when rising house prices and high interest rates make homeownership feel further out of reach. At times like these, it’s okay to feel discouraged. But right now could be the best time to focus on putting money towards your first home.
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Almost two-thirds of first-time buyers team up to get on ladder. It’s unsurprising when first-time buyers have to put down an average deposit of over £53,000. Clubbing together with a partner, friends, siblings or other family members to buy together is a way to boost your borrowing power and overcome the house affordability gap - so you can buy sooner. Whether you want to buy a house with a partner, mate or loved one, at Tembo we’ve made it easier for you to save for a house together with the in-built ‘Team up’ feature in our Lifetime ISA app.
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In between your ears, there are 86 billion neurons that make up the wonderful world of your brain. It’s responsible for everything that makes you, you, and is more advanced than any machine on earth today (and hopefully always). Inside this brilliant brain of yours is the ability to make decisions and create habits that help you reach your goals, like saving up for a home. But building a big enough house fund can be a daunting task. So within the Tembo Lifetime ISA app, we’ve built in features that use behavioural science to nudge your brain towards smashing your deposit goal. It starts as soon as you set up your Tembo account and keeps going until you’re ready to buy your place. Here are the behavioural science hacks within our award-winning app that help you reach your house deposit goal faster.
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Adulting can be hard. One minute you feel like the world is your oyster, the next it can feel like you haven’t got a clue what you’re doing. To help you, we’ve collated 100 of the best nuggets of wisdom to help you master how to adult and get your life together. Dive in for adulting tips on money, health, work, relationships, sustainable living, buying a home & more.
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The 6-month countdown is on! You’ve likely saved up all you want for a house deposit, or are almost there. You’re scrolling through Rightmove every chance you get. And after years of dreaming about it, owning your first home is actually within reach! At this point, you probably just want to move in already (!!!) but before that happens, there are a few things you need to do before applying for your first mortgage and buying your first house. As with all things, a lil’ preparation goes a long way, so here are some things you can do to get you ready.
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Maybe you’re dreaming of one day buying your first place and making it your own. But until then, you’re likely to be renting. And while you rent, you might want to 1) put as much as you can towards your first home and 2) actually enjoy where you live. Keep reading to read our guide on how to rent like a pro, while also saving for your first home. We’re going to walk you through the dos and don’ts of renting a house, plus tips and tricks.
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Saving for a house is a huge goal to set yourself, and it’s easy to put it off - especially if you want to do other things along the way, like go travelling, move cities or start your own business. So, when it comes to building your first house deposit, here’s why there’s no time like the next 24 hours to start saving for your first home.
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If you’ve got a Lifetime ISA, or are about to open one, understanding how the tax year impacts what you can put into your LISA is important to ensure you max out your free government bonus! Keep reading to find out how Lifetime ISA works in relation to the tax year, and how long you have till the tax year ends.
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So, you're thinking about transferring your Lifetime ISA to another provider. You probably have a ton of questions - we're here to answer them, including how to transfer your Lifetime ISA, how long it takes, and some of the other most frequently asked questions about transferring LISAs along the way.
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If you’re hunting for your first home, you’ve probably come across the terms freehold and leasehold. To help you in your property search, we’ve outlined to pros and cons and buying freehold and leasehold to help you work out what property type is right for you.
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While you’ve been scrolling through dream houses, you’ve probably seen the words freehold, leasehold or commonhold pop up. Like most jargon in the home buying process, these small words can have a massive impact on the type of property you buy, and the cost. So here’s what you need to know about freehold vs leasehold and commonhold properties.
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Lifetime ISAs are designed to help people buy their first home or retire. If you take money out of your account for any other reason, you might have to pay the government’s early withdrawal fee.
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If you’re saving a deposit for a house, the right savings account could help you get on the ladder sooner. But which type of savings account should you choose? Let’s take a look at two of the most tax-efficient and rewarding options: the Cash ISA vs Lifetime ISA.
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If you’d like to buy a house one day, a Lifetime ISA could make it easier to save a deposit. You can save up to £4,000 a year in your Lifetime ISA and the government will boost your contributions for free by 25%, meaning you could get a £1,000 bonus each tax year if you max out your account. Lifetime ISAs were first introduced in 2017 and since then more than 170,000 first-time buyers have used them to buy their first home. But is a Lifetime ISA worth it today and should you get one?
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Life insurance will pay your family a lump sum if you pass away during the policy term, making it easier for your loved ones to pay off the mortgage and stay on top of bills and expenses. Some life insurance policies will even pay out if you’re injured or diagnosed with a serious illness. But with so many different policies, types of cover, and options available, it can be hard to work out the best UK life insurance policies available. That’s why we’ve created this guide.
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Already have a Help to Buy ISA? You could boost your house fund savings even more by transferring them to a Lifetime ISA (LISA). This is a special savings account that allows first-time buyers aged 18-39 to get a free 25% bonus on top of their savings each tax year (up to £1,000), helping them save up a house deposit faster. Keep reading to find out how to transfer a Help to Buy ISA to a Lifetime ISA, and if this is the right decision for you.
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If you’ve taken out a life insurance policy to protect your loved ones or you’ve been named as a beneficiary on someone else’s policy, here’s what you need to know about paying taxes on life insurance.
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Saving a house deposit is no mean feat. So imagine being able to buy a home with only 1% of the property price saved. Well, the Chancellor is apparently considering it. There are rumours that Jeremy Hunt will announce the introduction of 99% mortgages in the upcoming Spring Budget on the 6th March. But how would this new mortgage scheme work, and is it worth the hype? Keep reading to find out.
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To save or invest? That’s the question. Turns out, making decisions for your first home starts waaayy before the house-hunting stage. It all begins with which account you’ll choose to build your deposit.
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