The lifetime rate mortgage
An increasing number of mortgage lenders have started offering what can be described as lifetime rate mortgages.
(These are not to be confused with lifetime mortgages, which are a variety of equity release plan for the elderly.)
Lifetime rate mortgages are marketed as being deals you can stick with for the entire lifetime of your debt.
How long is a lifetime?
Traditionally, this was 25 years, but nowadays a mortgage term can be considerably longer or shorter.
Some lenders will allow you to borrow for up to 40 years, but you can choose a term of half that, or less, if you can afford it.
Also, many of today’s mortgages include flexible features, which means you can make regular or occasional penalty-free overpayments, enabling you to clear your debt even more quickly.
(For more on this, read Flexible mortgages.)
What’s in it for the lender?
As more and more homeowners cotton on to the money-saving possibilities of remortgaging every few years to get a better deal, lenders are having to come up with new ways to encourage them to stay put, and so preserve their long-term profits.
Hence, the lifetime rate mortgage.
What’s in it for me?
There are lifetime rate mortgages with interest arrangements designed to appeal to every type of borrower.
To find out more, go to The types of lifetime rate mortgage.