UK homeowners 'failing to change mortgage'

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 12:43:02 GMT

The majority of homeowners in the UK have never altered their mortgage outside of moving house.

Many homeowners are failing to change their mortgage and experience the financial benefits such a move could bring.

This is the main finding of new research from Barclays, which revealed the majority (58 per cent) of householders in the nation have never altered their home loan outside of relocating to a different property.

According to the study, a high number of people are failing to identify the savings to be made by reducing one of their biggest monthly outgoings, despite 92 per cent of the population claiming they are currently attempting to curb their expenditure.

Rather than considering their mortgage, however, people are instead looking to make savings by reducing the number of takeaways they eat and the amount of clothes they buy.

Andy Gray, head of mortgages at Barclays - which has been in operation for over 300 years and now operates in more than 50 countries around the world - said: "The fact that around six in ten homeowners have never changed their mortgage outside of moving house, suggests that they simply don't realise the levels of savings to be had by remortgaging."

The industry figure explained it is important UK adults consider the savings to be had through changing their home loan, especially at a time when individuals seek to cut costs as their monthly expenditure swells.

He added: "There are an increasing number of good mortgage deals to be had so we are urging homeowners to act now and look at the rate they are paying."

According to the investigation, 74 per cent of those polled admitted they would consider changing their home loan if it meant they could save up to £50 a month, while 44 per cent of respondents claimed they have been spending more time looking at cost-cutting measures over the last 12 months than they did previously.
 

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