Mortgages more affordable, survey shows

Those considering taking out homeowner loans may be buoyed by the news that mortgages are becoming more affordable.

This is according to the latest survey from Woolwich, the mortgage arm of Barclays, which found that the average monthly payment is now £497, a drop from £607 recorded in December 2008.

Head of mortgages at Barclays Andy Gray noted that for millions of households, this reduction in payments has been the “sliver lining to the recession”.

“For them, it’s a chance to save in a way they might not have been able to before, or overpay their mortgage and cut years from its life,” he said.

Those in London experienced the greatest drop, where the amount of take-home pay spent on mortgages fell by 23 per cent.

These results follow recent predictions from Timothy Lambert of Ducalian, who observed that mortgages are likely to become more affordable as the country comes out of recession.

By Sarah Adie