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Half a million homeowners miss mortgage = payments
New research = indicates=20 that cash-strapped borrowers are struggling to pay off their home = loans
Almost half a million cash-strapped homeowners have missed a monthly=20 repayment on their mortgage in the past six months, according to new = research.=20
Despite the Bank of England=E2=80=99s quarter point cut in interest = rates in=20 December, many homeowners are still struggling to pay off their home = loans,=20 according to MoneyExpert.com, a comparison web site.
Some mortgage rates have in fact increased since December=E2=80=99s = cut. The average=20 fixed-rate deal has risen from 7.30 to 7.31 per cent according to = another=20 comparison website, moneysupermarket.com.
This affects the majority of mortgages as over seven out of every ten = new=20 mortgages being taken out are fixed-rate.
The research found 463,000 people had failed to meet a mortgage = payment=20 deadline since July 2007, representing around four per cent of the 11.8 = million=20 outstanding mortgages in Britain.
Before the most recent cut, which put bank rate at 5.5 per cent, = homeowners=20 were hit by five quarter point hikes.
Households having overspent during the festive period may exacerbate = the=20 problem. Credit card bills for goods bought at the beginning of December = are due=20 in the next couple of weeks.
Sean Gardner, Chief Executive of MoneyExpert.com, said: = =E2=80=9CMissing a mortgage=20 payment doesn=E2=80=99t incur an automatic charge like failing to pay = your credit card=20 bill. But it is a sign of real distress as keeping a roof over your head = should=20 be the priority for most of us.
=E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s clear that many homeowners are feeling the = strain of successive=20 interest rate hikes but if the result is that you can=E2=80=99t pay your = mortgage then=20 you should take action immediately.
=E2=80=9CIf you are struggling to afford the repayments then now is = not the time to=20 stick your head in the sand. A phone call to your lender can ease the = pressure=20 enormously.=E2=80=9D
People aged 25 to 34 are the most likely to have missed mortgage = payments,=20 according to the research.
As people find it increasingly difficult to make mortgage repayments, = the=20 wealth tied up in bricks and mortar is also falling. The average cost of = homes=20 across Britain fell by 0.8 per cent in the last three months of last = year,=20 according to the latest Halifax House Price index =E2=80=93 the first = quarterly fall=20 since 2000.
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