Nearly 200,000 mortgage 'prisoners'

A report by the London School of Economics and Political Science says that nearly 200,000 mortgage "prisoners" trapped on interest rates of up to 8.29% should be offered interest-free loans to set them free. The report calculated that the Government made £2.4bn profit from selling the mortgages on to lenders that are not regulated to offer borrowers new deals. Its report now proposes a package of support for struggling borrowers that would cost Whitehall up to £347m over ten years. These proposals include providing equity loans that would be interest-free for five years, to help borrowers reduce the size of their mortgage debt and qualify for a cheaper rate with a new lender. MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis, who funded the research, called on ministers to act "with speed". 

The Sunday Express (05/02/2023)