With estimates of 45,000 home repossessions this year in the UK, the chance of repossession is higher and ever. I would like to pass on advice to you so if you are struggling you can take action to avoid losing your home.
The worst thing you can do is ignore the problem, it won’t go away. If you have falling into arrears or can’t make the next payment, contact your lender. They may be able to offer you alternatives, like a payment holiday or a longer repayment plan which will lower your monthly repayments.
Improve your finances
You should also have a look at your own finances. First of all your debts, if you owe money use a comparison service or check best buy tables to see if you can benefit from a better interest rate, if you leave it until you have defaulted on your mortgage or on other payments then your chance of getting new credit is highly unlikely.
Do you have a spare room? You could make additional income from this; you may not like the idea of sharing your home but it could make the difference and it can be fairly short term, as soon as your finances improve you can have your home back.
Prioritise your debts. Most important are loans secured against your home. Then after this make sure you at least make the minimum payments on credit cards, after this pay as much as you can afford to the one with the highest interest rate.
Seek advice
There are many organisations that can help, providing advice on sorting out your finances and can give advice on negotiating with lenders. New government legislation means lenders should help you and will offer deferred payments, sometimes for up to, two years, which is underwritten by the government.
When you do speak to your mortgage lender, be honest with them. Tell them about your debts so they understand what exactly you can afford to repay. You don’t want to get into further trouble if avoidable.
Once you are in a more stable position compare mortgage rates to ensure you are getting the best rates, you could save yourself thousands in repayments over the course of the mortgage. A mortgage broker can search the market for you whether you want an Aberdeen mortgage or London mortgage. There are many brokers who offer their service for free to customers, meaning you can avoid paying out more money for a service you may not need.
