Mortgage rate falls 'have made homeownership cheaper'

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 10:42:06 GMT

The cost of owning a home has been reduced thanks to falls in interest rates charged on mortgages.

This is according to Paula John, editor of yourmortgage.co.uk, who said that possible future rises could cause problems for consumers.

Her comments were made after Halifax published figures which suggested the money needed to own and run the average residence in the UK has decreased by more than £500 per year over the last 24 months.

The firm suggested that the annual cost of property running declined from £9,564 to £9,020 over this period.

Ms John stated: "The fact that interest rates have stayed low has actually knocked on to people's mortgages to a large degree."

However, if rates go up, some consumers could find they experience difficulties in covering their outgoings as their budgets may have been "tightened and stretched" during the recession.

This is particularly the case for those who have been made redundant, Ms John observed.


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