Most people only think about their mortgage when a fixed rate is ending, or when they’re buying their first home. But a mortgage isn’t a set-and-forget decision – it needs to fit the life you’re living, and life doesn’t stay still.
Here are five moments where it’s worth checking whether your mortgage still fits.
Starting a family: the parental leave squeeze
Having a new baby, and the cost of one parent taking parental leave, is one of the most common reasons people should revisit their mortgage – and yet many don’t think to.
Parental leave changes your income, and there are options an Adviser can suggest to make that period easier before it starts, not after.
That could mean restructuring your repayments to ease cash flow – such as asking your lender about interest-only payments or a repayment holiday. Keep in mind that although these reduce what you pay in the short term, it will usually mean paying more overall or extending your loan term.
Another option is making better use of your savings through an offset mortgage or revolving credit, or consolidating other debt before your income drops – all worth working through with an Adviser before your parental leave starts, not once you’re already on a single income.
Growing a family: outgrown the spare room?
As a family grows, so does the need for space – and at some point, the spare room, the tight garage-conversion office, or the one shared bathroom stops working for you and becomes a daily source of stress.
If a bigger home is part of the plan, your existing mortgage may not be set up to make that move as easy as it could be. An Adviser can help you understand what you could actually borrow based on your current equity and income and whether restructuring your current lending first puts you in a stronger position before you start house hunting.
Helping the kids into their first home
For many parents, most significant financial decisions aren’t about their own mortgage at all – it’s helping their kids get into a first home of their own.
There are several ways this can work, and they come with quite different levels of risk:
- acting as a guarantor by using the equity in your own home,
- gifting or lending a deposit,
- or going in as a joint borrower on their mortgage.
Each option affects your own lending position differently, and it’s worth understanding exactly what you’re taking on, and which would work best for you.
Buying an investment property: building for the future
Buying a rental property is a different kind of decision to buying a home to live in – and the lending behind it works differently too.
An Adviser can help you understand how much of your existing equity you can put to work, and how lenders treat rental income when assessing what you can borrow.
There’s also the question of how to structure lending across multiple properties in a way that protects you if one property’s value or your circumstances change – rather than leaving everything tied together by default. Rental properties typically create tax deductibility opportunities – we can work alongside can work alongside your accountant to help make sure your lending structure supports that.
Downsizing: freeing up what you’ve built
At the other end of the scale, downsizing to a smaller home can free up a significant amount of equity – but what you do with that equity, and how your new mortgage, if you need one, is structured, makes a real difference.
If you’re buying and selling at the same time an Adviser can help you work through the numbers – including bridging finance if there’s a gap between the two, so you’re not caught paying two mortgages or being rushed into a sale. They can also help you weigh up what to do with any equity freed up, whether that’s paying off your mortgage entirely, topping up retirement savings, helping family, or keeping a smaller mortgage and investing the difference.
Talk to an Adviser today
None of these moments are about interest rates. They’re about life changing shape – and the fact that a mortgage that was right for you five years ago isn’t necessarily right for you now.
If you’re going through, or close to, any of these changes to your life, book a chat with an Enva Mortgage Adviser. A quick review of your situation can tell you whether your mortgage and your current lender still fit the life you’re living, or whether it’s time for an adjustment.
This article is general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Your personal circumstances haven’t been taken into account. Please speak with a Enva Mortgage Adviser before making any decisions about your mortgage.
