15-day warning to secure mortgage deal as £1.6m at risk
People looking to buy a home typically have just 15 days to secure the best new mortgage deals before they are pulled by banks, according to the BBC. Moneyfactys says new deals now have the shortest shelf life in six months, leaving homebuyers with little time to make a decision.
Jo Jingree, from Mortgage Confidence, said: “Some lenders only give a few hours’ notice of a rate change. That creates a situation which is less than ideal because taking out a mortgage can be a huge financial commitment that could impact them for years to come.”
Choosing the right mortgage deal locks you into a rate for two to five years – sometimes longer – while doing nothing eaves you on a variable rate that can go up as well as down.
READ MORE: Thousands of London single mums relying on Universal Credit caught in ‘poverty trap’
1.6 million people will need to make a decision this year when their current mortgage rate expires. At the start of March, there were 6,000 mortgages to choose from, according to Moneyfacts, the widest selection since 2008.
At the start of February, new deals lasted an average of 28 days.
The average rate of a two-year fixed deal is now 5.8%, according to Moneyfacts, and is starting to go back up.
Want more from MyLondon? Sign up to our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here.
Source link