Guest Q&A: Can anyone apply for a mortgage holiday?
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Andrew Diver, head of tax at Beatons accountancy firm, looks at who is eligible, how to apply and what the long-term impact would be.
The three-month mortgage holiday is aimed at those who are financially struggling.
But don’t panic. You won’t need to ‘prove’ that coronavirus has impacted your finances – you can self-certify.
But to qualify, you’ll need to be up to date with all of your mortgage payments already and sadly, if you are in mortgage arrears or financial difficulties, you’re unlikely to be offered a holiday.
To apply you just need to have a chat with your lender.
They will ask you a few questions and will check that taking a holiday won’t make paying off the mortgage unaffordable for you later down the line.
Usually taking a mortgage holiday means you repay those missed payments by increasing your monthly mortgage payments in future or increasing your mortgage term.
It’s really not as bad as it sounds either. Let’s imagine for a second that you have 20 years left on your mortgage. For the next three months you wouldn’t pay anything. Then when your mortgage repayments resume, the total you owe would be spread over the following 19 years and nine months – so you would see a very small uplift in future payments.
Beatons Limited are not authorised to provide investment advice and the details in this article are for information purposes only. Choosing to defer mortgage payments can have an impact on future payments due and we would suggest you seek professional advice from a qualified mortgage advisor before proceeding.
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