Brokers caution that most first-time buyers in today’s market are more likely to obtain a 40-year mortgage.
By taking on longer house loans to satisfy banks’ requirements for new mortgages, first-time buyers are paying tens of thousands of pounds extra in interest.
In June, the average mortgage length reached a record high of 30 years. Rising home prices, soaring inflation, and rising mortgage costs compelled purchasers to discover novel ways to reduce monthly instalments.
The lender organisation, UK Finance, noted that this was an increase from 28.6 years in June 2016. The average mortgage term was only 25.5 years in 2005, a year in which housing costs were significantly lower than average incomes.
“30 years is the average, but if you remove elderly movers, it is substantially higher,” said Lewis Shaw of mortgage broker Shaw Financial Services. Today, every first-time buyer obtains a 30, 35, or 40-year mortgage.
Longer terms have been more popular over the past year due to rapidly rising inflation and mortgage rates, according to Mr Shaw.
“I have seen a 20 per cent to 30 per cent rise this year in buyers asking for 35 and 40-year mortgage terms,” said Nick Mendes of mortgage broker John Charcol.
The buyers who are most strapped for cash, namely first-time buyers, are the ones who are taking out the most extended mortgage terms, according to broker Aaron Strutt of Trinity Financial.
Due to rising housing costs, Mr Strutt stated that buyers needed larger mortgages. Then there is everything else, including credit cards, loans, and childcare expenses. These prices are all rising and are all taken into account by lenders.
“For buyers to achieve affordability requirements, longer mortgage terms are required. Although buyers don’t want it, they must have it to qualify for a mortgage.
By extending the mortgage’s duration, a buyer can lower their monthly payments by spreading the capital repayments over a longer time frame.
Mr Strutt calculated that a buyer would pay £2,000 per month for £200,000 with a two-year fixed-rate agreement at 3.49 per cent over 25 years.
The mortgage payments would be reduced by £206 to £1,794 per month if they took out the identical loan for a 30-year term. They would pay £1,547 each month for a 40-year time.
However, analysts cautioned that as a result, homeowners would pay enormously higher amounts in interest.
Mr Strutt calculated that the buyer who chose the 25-year mortgage term would pay a total of £149,972 in interest for the duration of the transaction.
By extending the term to 30 years, the buyer would pay an additional £37,642, bringing their total bill to £187,614, or a 25% increase in prices.
They would pay £268,348 in total interest during a 40-year term, which is 79 per cent more than they would have spent on 25 years. This implies that they will wind up paying an additional £118,376 throughout the mortgage to save £5,438 in monthly payments during the first two years of their arrangement.
The longer the loan term, the more interest you will pay, according to Mr Mendes.
Additionally, homeowners are increasingly extending their terms when they remortgage, as per Mr Shaw.
He mentioned a couple that refinanced and increased their mortgage term from 11 to 19 years. Along with debt consolidation, they accomplished this and cut their monthly payments from £1,050 to £420.
“Although they will pay more overall, these payments are within their means. They only took such action because they were worried about price increases. Although they have some breathing room, Mr Shaw said they risk piling on additional debt because of the increased disposable income; they risk piling on other debt.
