Furlough is set to end in just over two months and already, job cuts are pushing 650,000, leaving thousands worried about how to pay the bills, let alone the mortgage.
Whether you’re concerned you might lose your job or not, cutting the cost of any outgoing is a sensible move right now and that’s even truer for your mortgage, which is likely to a household’s single biggest outgoing.
With fewer mortgage deals to choose from than ever before borrowers may feel that their hands are tied, especially as lenders become more picky about who they lend to. But there are still ways to cut down on that monthly bill and potentially save thousands of pounds in the long run while doing so.
This guide is intended to give you the basics on how to launch your own post-Covid recovery by cutting the cost of your mortgage.
Move off your standard variable rate
One of the biggest mortgage mistakes you can make is slipping onto your lender’s standard variable rate – the interest rate you default to when your fixed rate deal comes to an end – and not then moving back onto a cheaper deal.
This can end up costing hundreds of extra pounds a year, and there are usually no downsides to switching to a cheaper deal. The caveat here is that if you switch lender, they’ll value your home which could affect the deals you are eligible for.