Uncapped mortgage charges ’skyrocketing’
November 29, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
The number of mortgages with uncapped upfront fees has risen dramatically in the past 12 months, it has emerged.
Now at 506, the number is five times what it was a year ago, with application fees rising as high as 3.25 per cent of the loan value, according to MoneyExpert.
Sean Gardner, chief executive of the website, commented: “Borrowers need to look carefully at mortgage deals and not just focus on the interest rate. What might look like a good deal will soon become a bad deal once fees are taken into account.
“Mortgage application fees are nothing new but lenders often won’t publicise a change to their fee structures, meaning some homeowners could be unaware of this huge shift to uncapped charges.”
Capped upfront fees have also gone up in the past year by an astonishing 63 per cent, with the average fee growing to £834 from £509 in November last year.
Mr Gardner concluded that those confused about fees should work out how much they are able to afford and then seek advice about whether the fees can be added onto the loan.
