The term overpaying your mortgage refers to the voluntary additional payment of cash into your mortgage account over and above the agreed monthly sum.
There are a variety of reasons you might want to do this.
If you have no outstanding debt elsewhere (which is likely to be more expensive) and surplus net income or cash sitting in a savings account earning you little or no interest, then reducing your mortgage is a prudent option. Saving 3.85% in mortgage interest when you are only earning 2% gross interest in your best ISA might seem like a ‘no brainer’.
Alternatively, you might want to use a windfall or bonus to reduce the mortgage sum in case interest rates rise in the future, making payments hard to meet. Or perhaps you are planning a few months sabbatical and you want to take a ‘mortgage holiday’ thus making no payments whilst you aren’t earning.
We all have different priorities and financial circumstances and it’s impossible to consider whether or not you should consider making over payments without knowing more about your personal circumstances. For example, it might be prudent to keep some cash readily available for that rainy day, especially if you are self employed or currently find in a precarious state of employment!
The starting point should be to make sure that your mortgage agreement allows you to do what you are considering. Not all lenders will allow repayment holidays or over payments and some of those that do might charge significant fees for this activity, even if you only slightly exceed what may be allowed.
For more information or to speak to a mortgage adviser, contact us on 01628 507477.
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