Mortgage affordability improves
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Borrowers in England and Wales saw the proportion of their take-home pay spent on mortgage payments drop 20% last year, reveals research from Woolwich.
The research found that on average home owners spent £157 on their mortgage payments in December for every £1,000 they took home in their monthly salary.
In December 2008 this figure stood at £196.
Woolwich says in cash terms this equates to an average saving of £110 per month.
The average monthly mortgage payment in December was £497, compared to £607 a year earlier.
Andy Gray, head of mortgages at Barclays, says: “For the 11 million UK households who have a mortgage there is a silver lining to the recession - a substantial reduction in mortgage payments right when they need it most.
“For them it’s a chance to save in a way they might not have been able to before, or to overpay their mortgage and cut years from its life.”
London saw the largest fall in the proportion of pay spent on repayments, a drop of 23%.
The North-East saw the small decrease at 15.5%.
Those from Wales spend the smallest proportion of their take home pay - £143 in every £1000 - on monthly repayments.
Londoners spend the most at £189.
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