Like the rest of the UK and 3 quarters of the population of the world right now, I have spent the last couple of weeks confined to my house for the greater good. Also, like most; my everyday life has changed like I never thought possible. Without trying to make light of what is the single greatest threat to our way of life in a generation, I have seen (and I had to look hard) some sparks of hope and positivity shining through the storm clouds:

• China mostly free from new coronavirus cases (if we are to believe the Chinese press of course !)
• Global emissions are 25% down in China and dropping comparatively across the globe. However short term this is, it just shows us that it can be done and that changes can be made once this is all over and we go back to ‘normal’ life.
• From my perspective, families and neighbours are talking more now than ever, despite it being over the phone or by skype or zoom. My wife spent the whole of last night ‘housepartying’ (if you know, you know) with her aunts, cousins, nephews and other family members. The laughter from the other room seriously interfered with my Netflix box set bonanza of 24.
• Free online concerts - this craze, I imagine, will be with us for the foreseeable future and is a great way to see your favourite artists perform live.
• Dogs are getting to spend loads of time with their families, they think its Christmas ! My cokerpoo is going to have a massive shock when I go back to work !
• Finally and most importantly, the whole of the UK is now finally supporting and showing the respect that our NHS and its staff deserve, we are so lucky to have this world class service available free to us all.

Now I’m not going to lie, there is really not a lot of good news coming from the mortgage industry right now. Some lenders are temporarily suspending new lending completely, whilst others are reducing the amount you can borrow. Add to that the logistics of valuations and simply being unable to have a moving day means that in some instances, mortgages will grind to a temporary halt.

During this time we at Affinity Mortgages will be here for you. Its likely that right now you may just need some advice with managing your current mortgage, payment holidays or help in planning for when we are all set free again. I say on behalf of the whole team, we would be delighted to hear from you. It’s at times like these that we as mortgage professionals can give back to the community who have supported our business and helped us achieve incredible success to date.

Rick Marshall