The CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders) show that nearly 6 Million people have received mortgages that are interest only. Interest only mortgages means that your monthly payments are applied only to the interest accrued on the debt and not the actual debt itself. Additionally, the CML has found that many first time home purchasers are seeking interest only mortgages. The number of first time buyers that apply for interest only loans increases each year. Why such a boom in this type of loan? Well research has found that by allowing first time homebuyers to pay interest only, is the only way many of them can afford to buy a home.
An example of how an interest only mortgage works is say a homebuyer wants to borrow 100,000 for three years at a fixed rate of 4.99%. The estimated payment for this person would be about 600 to repay the loan. However, if you make this interest only, their monthly payment would decrease to only around 400. The general problem with this type of mortgage is that the borrowing homeowner would need to have some way of being able to pay on the capital of the loan. Otherwise, at the end of the loan term they will still be left with the same debt....