Mortgages

The Government has been criticised in the House of Lords for letting "the months and years slip by" without providing a solution for mortgage prisoners.

According to the latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs, 141,100 first-time buyers have bought properties without having to pay stamp duty, and a further 39,400 have paid a discounted rate in the year since first-time buyers relief was introduced.

The Government could make changes to the law which is often blamed for creating mortgage prisoners, Treasury Minister John Glen has said in a letter published today.

The financial regulator wants to help mortgage prisoners "as a matter of urgency" including those stuck on deals with firms it doesn't regulate, its executive director of strategy and competition has said this morning.

First-time buyers in shared ownership homes will pay zero stamp duty on the first £300,000 of any home that costs up to £500,000 with immediate effect, the Chancellor has announced. The change will be retrospective back to the last Budget (22 November 2017).

Tens of thousands of Halifax mortgage customers are to be given a redress payment of £20 after the bank uncovered an error in the way interest has been charged that dates back eight years, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal. 

The sale of mortgages to unauthorised and inactive lenders is giving some mortgage prisoners a "life sentence", MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has warned Treasury Minister John Glen.

Treasury Minister John Glen has admitted that mortgage prisoners "need to be dealt with" at an event run by MoneySavingExpert.com at the Conservative Party Conference – providing hope for 10,000s of home owners stuck on expensive deals. 

The best buy mortgage fixes have barely moved four weeks on from the base rate rise, with some lenders even dropping their rates, meaning there is still a window of opportunity to lock in low rates for anyone with up to six months left on their current deal.