Even if you choose a standard 25-year mortgage term, you aren’t obliged to take that long to clear your debt.

Many mortgage lenders now offer flexible features with their loans.

These generally include allowing regular or occasional lump-sum overpayments to help you become debt-free more quickly.

For example, if you used a repayment mortgage (also known as a capital and interest mortgage) to borrow £100,000 over 25 years at an interest rate of 6 per cent, you would repay around £644 a month or £193,390 over the term.

But if you took the same loan and overpaid every month, here’s what would happen

• £25 a month

You would save almost £8,800 in interest and clear your debt 2 years and 1 month early.

• £50 a month

You would save nearly £16,000 and be debt-free 3 years and nine months early.

• £100 a month

You would be almost £27,000 better off and debt-free 6 years and five months early.

A word of warning if you might want to overpay 

Check before you take out your mortgage that it allows penalty-freeoverpayments and if there are any limits on the amounts or frequency.

For another way to save interest and pay off your debt early, read about Offset Mortgages.

There’s much more information on paying your mortgage off early here