Ad Feature
Coronavirus: home movers offered mortgage extensions
Last week, lenders agreed to help home movers who have exchanged contracts and agreed completion dates by offering mortgage extensions of up to three months. Picture: Getty Images - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Sharron Tennant from Spire Solicitors looks at the ways coronavirus has impacted the process of buying and moving – and what mortgage lenders are doing to help.
Has the coronavirus outbreak affected your plans of buying and moving? Picture: Getty Images - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
In the current market, we will see an impact in timescales to complete and exchange with uncertainty on expiring mortgage offers for people currently in the process of buying and moving.
Last week, lenders agreed to help home movers who have exchanged contracts and agreed completion dates by offering mortgage extensions of up to three months.
By utilising the mortgage extension, certain home movers could push back the start date of a mortgage deal or extend a mortgage deal at the end of its term, all of which will vary by lender.
The news comes shortly after mortgage lenders have stepped in with certain measures to protect homeowners with mortgage payment holidays of up to three months for those who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
A mortgage payment holiday will have to be agreed between you and your lender, including the set period. During this time, it is important to understand that the payment holiday will not be ‘free’ for the homeowner, as the homeowner will still owe the same amount to the lender, including interest charged on the amount to be repaid from any repayment holiday.
If you do decide to look at a mortgage repayment holiday it is important to discuss this with your lender, as well as how you will manage the repayments of this, whether this is achieved by applying for a short-term extension to your mortgage, or increasing your monthly payments at the end of the mortgage payment holiday.
Most Read
- 1 WATCH: Shock for drivers as car goes the wrong way on A47
- 2 Murder jury hears how 'angry' father ran over teenage daughter
- 3 Most desirable places to live in Norfolk according to estate agents
- 4 Norfolk festival cancelled amid 'challenging year'
- 5 Vicar at heart of bitter church row resigns
- 6 Festival-goers 'in the dark' over refunds following cancellation
- 7 Gallery of pictures from the Royal Norfolk Show's first day
- 8 Five-bed farmhouse with attached orchard and glamping site for sale
- 9 Revealed: The most isolated neighbourhoods in Norfolk
- 10 Fears access road for new housing will be built on sacred land
Currently lenders are understanding that this is a difficult time for not only home movers, but also for the housing market in general.
With lenders continuing to adapt to the changing landscapes, pressures on home movers, as well as homeowners, will soon start to ease.
At this time, it is important if you are in the process of moving to listen to advice, as well as to speak to your lender and solicitor regarding changes and updates.
For people who are in the process of moving home, with the current measures in place, it would be advisable for all parties to liaise with their solicitor with the aim to agree on a new date to complete and move.
If you would like to discuss any points in this article further, please contact Spire Solicitors LLP on 01603 677077 for all your legal needs.
This column is sponsored by Spire Solicitors.
