More than three million standard variable rate (SVR) mortgage holders are not aware of the rate of interest they are paying and mistakenly assume it is the best deal available.
This is according to findings from Post Office Mortgages, with this figure applying to 28 per cent of SVR mortgage holders.
More than a third (35 per cent) are repaying their mortgage at the standard variable rate their lender is offering, with many likely to be of the belief that they have a deal offering the lowest monthly repayments.
Almost half (49 per cent) of respondents said they were in a position to overpay their mortgage but were not taking advantage of doing so.
Marco Hughes, a personal lending director at the Post Office, said that borrows who remain on their existing SVR are "much more vulnerable" to rises in interest rates.
"Some providers have increased their SVRs quite significantly even though the Bank of England base rate has not moved and as a result many borrowers are seeing their monthly mortgage repayments increase more quickly than they thought," he explained.
Mr Hughes went on to say that now is the "best time" to think about changing mortgage deals as interest rates are likely to rise further in the relatively near future.
"Switching mortgage does not have to be a stressful experience and spending a bit of time searching and comparing deals could save you a significant amount of money in the long term," he commented.
There are a number of good deals currently on the market, which may appeal to borrowers on an SVR rate of four per cent or more.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said yesterday (March 2nd) that housing markets across Europe were beginning to recover from the effects of recession.
House prices increased by one per cent in the UK during 2009, Rics revealed, although a ten per cent rise was recorded compared to the lowest figure back in April. |
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