Introduction
It was more years ago than I care to admit that I bought my first home, yet I remember the roller-coaster of competing emotions like it was yesterday: the excitement at picking up the keys mixed with fear that I was taking on a humungous debt and doubts about whether I’d made the right decisions along the way.
Since then the housing market has changed a great deal. Not only are properties far more expensive, but first-time buyers also face much tougher lending criteria, making it even harder for them to get their feet on the first rung of property ladder.
I’m now a landlord in London and many of my tenants see renting as a stepping-stone to buying their first home, but in the capital and the rest of the southeast, high property prices make it especially challenging. That’s why mortgage brokers, such as London Money, are so important.
A good broker is worth their weight in gold, helping first-time buyers make the right decisions, not ones they will live to regret.
I’m delighted to write the introduction to this guide, the more access to good quality information first-time buyers have, the better.
Victoria Whitlock, The Evening Standard’s Accidental Landlord
