Offset Mortgage Explained

Offset mortgages are also flexible without a penalty. You can make extra payments, under payments and have a break from payments as long as you have made sufficient overpayments over the years.

Not all offset mortgages are the same. The competition among lenders is increasing and as a consequence the borrower has more options to choose from. This can include: free property valuations and free legal work, using two nominated saving accounts to be offset, and additional borrowing facilities. Depending on your lender, the saving accounts of family members can be combined to offset against one person’s mortgage; this is a popular choice for parents who want to help their offspring purchase their first home.

There are some disadvantages to an offset mortgage. Most offset mortgages allow the borrower to have a credit limit; if you are not disciplined about paying this back, then at the end of your mortgage period, you could be left with a big loan to pay. Thus, it takes a lot of budgeting and self-control to ensure the current account mortgage works effectively. Interest rates are different for the current account, savings and mortgage, so you do not have the opportunity to save money at the Standard Variable Rate like you can do with a current account mortgage.

Offset mortgage originally started in Australia and are fairly new to the UK market, however they have quickly gained in popularity. Originally, mortgage lenders only targeted the wealthy but they have now widen the market for customers who are charged basic tax and have savings. As a rough guide, a basic taxpayer needs around £20,000 in savings behind a £100,000 mortgage to make the offset deal better than a traditional mortgage. For a higher rate taxpayer, the savings requirement is about £10,000 although those figures will change as interest rates vary. If you are looking for a mortgage, an offset mortgage is something to seriously consider, particularly if you are a higher rate taxpayer and/or have substantial savings to offset. While the basic concept of an offset mortgage is simple, it does get complicated. This clearly underlines the need to talk things through with a mortgage advisor. It is their job and responsibility to ensure you get the right type of mortgage and the best deal.