Many borrowers ‘are unsure of their mortgage rates’

People may have to become more vigilant about their finances to avoid debt, as at least three million borrowers do not know the interest they are paying on their mortgage.

Almost 30 per cent of those who have accepted loans to pay for their housing are unsure of the repayment details, research from the Post Office has revealed.

Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, said: “In general, I would say that there is a considerable lack of knowledge about people’s specific mortgage products.”

He added that many people are not particularly interested in changes to their repayment rate and consider their mortgage merely to be a “means to an end” to grant them access to the housing market.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders announced on February 18th that gross mortgage lending fell to around £9 billion in January 2010, a 21 per cent drop from £11.5 billion the same time last year.

By Joe Shervin