Halifax: First-time buyers unfamiliar with mortgage-related terms

Date:Wednesday 28th January 2009
Author: Max Freedman

Most first-time buyers are not familiar with the acronym KFI, new research by Halifax has shown.

A study by the lender found that only a third of such people knew that it stood for Key Facts Illustration.

KFIs are designed to make lenders put details of mortgages into the same format so that customers can compare them more easily.

But four-fifths of first-time buyers knew that a completion date is the day they become the property's legal owner.

People aged 35 to 44 were the most likely to be able to define "gazumping" (86 per cent).

Only half of those aged 18 to 24 knew what it meant.

On February 1st, Halifax will pass on the full reduction in the Bank of England base rate to its existing tracker mortgage customers.

At the same time, its standard variable rate will be cut to 4.5 per cent.

It is currently 4.75 per cent.