Mortgage Holidays are 'on the Increase'

Many homeowners might be turning to "mortgage holidays" due to their variable working situations, new analysis from Alexander Hall has suggested.

According to the mortgage advisory company, the breaks in repayments - which sees the borrower switch from a repayment loan do a less burdensome interest-free loan - are proving popular among self-employed people facing fallow periods at work. These could include times of slow trading, or during the summer holidays when they have children to look after and cannot take on as many jobs as before.

However, Alexander Hall also said today that the mortgage holidays are not advisable for those who are facing long-term difficulties with making repayments.

The comments follow recent comments from lenders Nationwide, Bradford & Bingley and the Yorkshire, reported in the Times, which suggested that overall numbers of borrowers taking the holidays were on the up.

Andy Pratt, a spokesperson for Alexander Hall, said: "There are some clients who use [the holidays] as a seasonal activity really, and they have a holiday in January or February and then during the other months when things are busy they overpay. Usually you see this in cases when people are self-employed."

He added: "Obviously the mortgage is not being paid off if a borrower takes a holiday, so if everyone took one then obviously it would cause a further problem with funding, but it's always been one of those situations where there's a maximum time period of six months or so, so it's usually controlled."