Increasing numbers of people are requesting a break from their mortgage repayments, lenders report.
More and more homeowners are seeking a "mortgage holiday" from their home loans repayments, it has been suggested.
Several mortgage firms have reported the increase, the Times reports. When contacted by the newspaper, Nationwide said that the amount of its customers who are "taking a break" on repayments has gone up; a spokesman for Bradford & Bingley also said that there was an increase in enquiries on the matter, adding that he expected these enquiries to be "translated into people restructuring their finances, either through taking a payment holiday or extending the term of their mortgage".
Moreover, a spokesman for the Yorkshire Building Society confirmed the rise in mortgage holidays among its customers, as well as an increase in the number of people looking to pay off the interest on their home loan rather than make repayments. "There has been an increase in the number of inquiries about payment holidays and interest-only loans, but this could partly be due to the fact that we are contacting people who we think are having difficulties," he said.
The continuing effects of the credit crunch have contributed to the number of people falling behind on their mortgage payments, as the crisis has caused many lenders to tighten their criteria and to raise the rates of their loans.
Commenting on the mortgage holidays trend, Sue Anderson at the Council of Mortgage Lenders said: "A lender would make an assumption that an inquiry about a payment holiday is a likely indicator of financial trouble."
