Grainne Gilmore, Economics Correspondent
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Thousands of borrowers on 125 per cent mortgage deals will be forced to pay hundreds of pounds more in monthly repayment bills after most of the lenders offering these loans withdrew from the market yesterday.
The fallout from the credit crunch and stalling house prices have forced four leading lenders to stop offering 125 per cent mortgage deals. Another lender said that its deals were under review, which could leave Northern Rock as the only lender still offering this type of loan.
These 125 per cent deals were popular with borrowers, especially first-time buyers, when house prices were rising. The mortgages offer up to 95 per cent of the value of a home as a traditional mortgage, plus another 30 per cent as an unsecured personal loan, capped at £25,000 or £30,000.
Yet there are fears that some home-owners will be unable to find a similar offering when their current deal ends, leaving them facing much higher repayments. A borrower coming to the end of a fixed-term deal will be forced to renegotiate the “mortgage” portion of the loan with their current lender or a rival. The best-buy two-year fix for a 95 per cent mortgage is about 5 per cent, but borrowers with 125 per cent deals may be prevented from obtaining such a competitive deal by the fact that they also have a large unsecured loan.
Melanie Bien, of Savills Private Finance, a mortgage broker, said: “In the current climate, lenders are really looking at affordability, so having a big unsecured loan with another lender may scupper borrowers’ chances of getting a new competitive deal elsewhere.”
Instead, they may be forced to take any mortgage deal that they can get, which is likely to be more expensive, and pay a punitive rate on the unsecured loan with their current lender.
Northern Rock charges 15.59 per cent on the unsecured portion of the loan for those who come to the end of their two or three year Together mortgage deal. A borrower with a £125,000 mortgage with Northern Rock could see repayments rise by nearly £200 a month if they take out a new 95 per cent loan to cover the mortgage but are forced to pay a new, higher, rate on the unsecured debt of £30,000.
Alliance & Leicester said that it would stop selling its 125 per cent Plus-Mortgage home loans today, while Abbey will end its pilot scheme for 125 per cent deals on Friday. Coventry Building Society and Godiva Mortgages will also stop selling the mortgages this week. Birmingham Mid-shires, which is owned by Halifax, said its range of loans was “under review.”
Coventry said that it was planning a “maturity” loan, which would allow borrowers to roll over to a similar deal on more favourable terms, although the rates have yet to be decided.
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Somebody disagrees with my comment about limiting the maximum loan to 4 X salary,they are entitled to their opinion.All I would say is that if this rule had been in force during recent years,would we have had the NR fiasco.In addition to this,the BOE would have been able to raise interest rates to combat inflation.The oil price is high and the pound is falling.Surely inflation is going to rise this year.
stephen hulton, eure, france
It seems pretty reckless to lend 125% on the same property but the result is effectively to trap borrowers who can cannot now refinance elsewhere. No doubt NR will be charging above market rates on such borrowing - indeed in dowsizing the NR loan book, all their lenders will be penalised in this way.
And don't walk away - any unrecovered loan after selling such property - this will become an unsecured loan for life.
iain millett, canterbury,
chetas patel, croydon, surrey. It's a common myth that you can hand back the keys and just walk away. Once the mortgage lender has sold off the property at auction, added all if its costs (which will run into thousands), any shortfall (which there is bound to be with a 125% mortgage) will still be owed by the borrower. This can be got rid of eventually by means of bankruptcy but this will have dire consequences for the person's financial future. Much better to try to sell the house yourself before the market really nosedives.
George, Brighton, UK
Now Northern Rock is owned by the government I will be interested to see how the Labour Chancellor will justify his government charging electors 15.59% interest rates. Could get embarrassing.
Tim, Shipley, UK
Soon people will wake up to the fact that banks' primary objective is to make money. The way they do this is by luring people with attractive rates and then slamming the door of the trap shut behind them (metaphorically speaking).
Rick, Manchester,
if i had a house with a 125% mortgage, lots of credit card and loan debt but no other savings or assets- i would strongly consider just walking away .
End of the day, they sold you a 'product' knowing its high risk so although feel bad- don't feel too guilty
I disagree with the previous comment though about only allowing 4x salary. Lots of people circumstances are different or have different spending priorties.
chetas patel, croydon, surrey
Surely this will only lead to more people falling into arrears.An interest rate of 15.59% charged by the NR seems very high to me considering base rates are 5.25%.Why offer 125% loans in the first place.When I had a mortgage in the UK in the early 90's,almost every lender insisted on a minimum of 5% deposit.I borrowed 3.5 X my salary then and found it very difficult and was in negative equity for over 5 years.I feel very sorry for people who have 125% mortgages or who have borrowed 5 X salary.They are going to be trapped in their houses for many years.Interest rates are lower now,but in the early 90's,you got MIRAS and if you lost your job,the state paid the interest on the mortgage.This isn't the case nownand an increase of £200 a month could tip many people over the edge,especially with rising energy bills.My opinion is that no-one should be able to borrow more than 4 X their income as interest rates will always vary over the life of a typical 25 year mortgage.
stephen hulton, eure, france