Make home mortgage overpayments, urges website

Wednesday, 23 Sep 2009, 5:12pm
Make home mortgage overpayments, urges website

Although the base rate has been at its all-time low of 0.5 per cent for over six months now, new research suggests that some tracker mortgage borrowers are not taking the chance to make overpayments.

A financial advice website has claimed that home purchase loan customers who are on a tracker deal should be using the current low mortgage rate environment to shorten the lifetime of their debt.

According to Unbiased.co.uk, 53 per cent of tracker mortgage borrowers are still not making overpayments, even though the Bank of England's base rate is into its seventh month at 0.5 per cent.

Research by the website showed that only one in five has kept home mortgage repayment levels the same throughout the recession, allowing more debt to be cancelled while not paying anything extra relative to their bills before the credit crunch.

Over ten per cent of people also think that they may be charged for overpaying, which the website claims is untrue.

David Elms, chief executive of Unbiased.co.uk, said: "Tracker and standard variable rate mortgage borrowers have watched interest rates plunge to record lows during this year, presenting an ideal opportunity to pay off their outstanding mortgage more quickly.

"Such action would enable many thousands of borrowers to take years off their mortgage repayment term, or enjoy a greater level of repayment comfort down the line, should the economy take longer to recover," he added.

Those wishing to make the most of their money were recently offered some valuable tips by industry mortgage lenders first direct.

The HSBC subsidiary said they should make any overpayments possible because borrowers are currently in a strong position to do so.

Written by Ted Maul
© Copyright

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