UK households made “an unprecedented” £23.3bn of mortgage overpayments final 12 months, or £64m per day, as mortgage charges spiked within the wake of the mini-Price range, says the Fairness Launch Council.
The September fiscal assertion “prompted these in a position to take action to make lump sum funds and scale back their mortgage sizes to restrict rate of interest prices,” says the physique in its Spring 2023 Market Report.
Within the last quarter of final 12 months, £6.7bn of overpayments have been made, the best quarterly determine on report, and 14% greater than the third quarter.
All through 2022, the common two-year fixed-rate residence mortgage leapt from 2.38% to six.01% between January and December, whereas the common five-year repair rose from 2.66% to five.80%.
However regardless of this soar in overpayments, complete mortgage debt additionally hit a brand new excessive of £1.6trn in December, the council says, “prompting fears that many older individuals would possibly carry mortgage debt and burdensome overpayments into retirement”.
It provides the nation’s common mortgage funds handed £15bn per quarter for the primary time within the last three months of final 12 months, up from £14.3bn within the third quarter.
The entire worth of personal property within the UK topped £7.3trn final 12 months, ending the 12 months 7% greater than in December 2021.
In the identical interval, web property wealth hit £5.6trn, or £228,300 per family, an 8% rise.
The group says: “These year-on-year will increase have been affected by falling home costs within the 12 months’s last quarter however mirror broader developments driving greater property values throughout the 12 months.”
Fairness Launch Council chief government Jim Boyd provides: “Rising mortgage debt means extra individuals will likely be making repayments into their retirement, when most would favor to be mortgage-free.
“This comes at a time when the cost-of-living disaster has added nearly 20% to the ‘minimal’ price of retirement, with many pensioners’ common revenue leaving them in need of a average and even minimal stage of consolation.
He factors out: “Fairness launch isn’t a silver bullet answer, however it ought to all the time be a part of these necessary discussions.
“For the fitting individual, on the proper time, it has the potential to be a optimistic and life-changing choice.”