Consumers 'adversely affected by decrease in mortgage shelf-life'

Date:Wednesday 22nd July 2009
Author: Max Freedman

The decrease in the average shelf-life of UK mortgage products is having a detrimental impact on consumers.

This is according to Peter Cowell, broker at Click n go Mortgages, who claimed that lenders are withdrawing home loans because they do not wish to have "too much exposure" by offering market-leading deals.

He said that the reduced time people seeking mortgages now have to select products as a result of this behaviour is putting them under considerable pressure.

Mr Cowell stated: "The detrimental effect is on clients because they find a product that they want and which suits their requirements and they have to be very quick about it otherwise it will just disappear."

The expert added that consumers should spend time researching the market to find out which product best suits them.

His comments come in the wake of figures released recently by Moneyfacts which suggested that the average mortgage deal was available for 14 days in June, compared with 23 days in May.