Essentially Mortgages – Q4 2023

• Hope in the housing market
• Paying a mortgage in retirement
• Your mental health safety net

Mortgage Charter: a helping hand

Amid a turbulent mortgage market and with many experiencing cost-of-living difficulties, Chancellor
Jeremy Hunt has announced a new Mortgage Charter to bring relief to residential mortgage customers suffering from rising interest rates.

Talk, swap and security

The Mortgage Charter launched in June has three key elements:

1. Anyone can talk to their bank or mortgage lender for information and support, and this will have no impact on their credit score
2. People can choose to swap to an interest-only mortgage or extend their mortgage term, with the option to switch back to their original mortgage deal within six months with ‘no questions asked’ and no impact on their credit score
3. Customers won’t be forced to have their homes repossessed within 12 months of their first missed payment.

Improved flexibility

There are also additional measures to provide more flexibility to customers approaching the end of a fixedrate deal. Under the new Mortgage Charter, customers will be able to lock in a deal up to six months ahead and still apply for any better deals that are available right up to the start of their new term.
Affordability checks will be waived for those switching to a new mortgage deal if they are up to date with their payments when their fixed term ends.