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21 Nov 2024
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Go Direct Personal Finance News  2009

Interest-only mortgage house arrest

There has been a sudden surge in lenders reducing the LTVs on interest-only mortgages to just 50%, placing them firmly out of the reach of the majority of borrowers.

Lenders cite this as ‘prudent’ borrowing but anyone who currently has an interest-only mortgage at a higher LTV than 50% needs to consider their limited options quickly.   


Latest changes to interest-only mortgages

Lender

LTV Reduced from

LTV Reduced  To

Notes

Santander/Abbey

75%

50%

 

Leeds BS

75%

50%

 

Nationwide

66%

50%

 

Coventry BS

75%

50%

 

Newbury BS

75%

70%

 

Skipton BS

75%

60%

 

Manchester BS

70%

60%

 

Teachers BS

70%

50%

 

HSBC/first direct

80%

75%

£30K salary required

Source: Moneyfacts 3.4.12

 

Sylvia Waycot, spokesperson for Moneyfacts.co.uk, said:

“Don’t worry if you already have an interest-only mortgage at a higher loan-to-value than is now offered. The change applies to new borrowers only.  

“However, problems may arise if you need to borrow additional money for home improvements, such as building extra bedrooms, etc., because this will be deemed a new loan and you will only be able to borrow around 50% of the house value, which in most cases will be less than the original mortgage.     

“The end result is that many people who chose an interest-only mortgage because it was cheaper, and are at their maximum monthly outgoings, will find themselves unable to move should they need to, or borrow for improvements – which means they are in fact under a form of house arrest 

“If you have a relatively new interest-only mortgage (less than five years old) you could consider moving to a repayment mortgage while you still have the majority of years left to pay off the loan before retirement. But don’t take too long considering this as the later the move is made the more costly the monthly expense will be as the timescale for clearing the debt will have reduced.”

Moneyfacts Group
Moneyfacts is the UK’s leading independent provider of personal financial information and our data is used and trusted throughout the financial industry.

 

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE

Think carefully before securing other debts against your home, your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

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