Flexible mortgages

Could you save money?

The best thing you can do with a flexible mortgage is make overpayments.

This will allow you to pay off your mortgage early and potentially save many thousands of pounds in interest payments.

But the beauty of a flexible mortgage is that it then allows you to borrow back those overpayments if you need to, or you could decide to stop paying your mortgage for a month or two, maybe when expenditure is at a peak.

To be really flexible, a mortgage should allow you to leave it without paying an early repayment charge (ERC), but as many flexible mortgages these days come as fixed rates or with discounts, this is not always the case.

Finally, it is important that interest is calculated daily, so that any overpayment is taken off your mortgage as soon as you pay it.

While some lenders advertise fully flexible mortgages, thousands of other mortgage deals come with flexible features these days; the most common being the facility to overpay. Some will only allow you to overpay a maximum figure per month (eg £500), while some will let you pay off a maximum percentage of the mortgage amount per year (eg 10%).

Pros and cons of flexible mortgages

Flexible mortgages put you in charge of your finances, and offer the potential to save a huge amount of money if used properly.

They can be ideal for anyone with a fluctuating income, such as the self-employed, or people who work on commission.

Flexible mortgages are not always the offered at the lowest interest rates; you may have to pay a slight premium for maximum flexibility.

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