Homebuyers are turning more and more to longer-term mortgages as they look to get on the housing ladder or trade up.
Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders reveal that 58% of first-time buyers took out mortgages of longer than 25 years in the second half of last year. The figure for those moving home was 36%. Meanwhile, the number of people taking out loans of more than 4.5 times salary has risen sharply.
CML chief economist Bob Pannell warned that a potential problem was building under the noses of the Bank of England’s policymakers, and that it had nothing to do with buy-to-let lending.
