UK interest only mortgages

Interest-only loans are popular ways of borrowing money to buy an asset that is unlikely to depreciate much and which can be sold at the end of the loan to repay the capital. For example, second homes, or properties bought for letting to others. In the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s a popular way to buy a house was to combine an interest-only loan with an endowment policy, the combination being known as an endowment mortgage. Homeowners were told that the endowment policy would cover the mortgage and provide a lump sum in addition. Many of these endowment policies were poorly managed and failed to deliver the promised amounts, some of which did not even cover the cost of the mortgage. This mis-selling, combined with the poor stock market performance of the late 1990s, has resulted in endowment mortgages becoming unpopular.

The property boom from the late 1990s has seen house price inflation far outstrip wage growth. This has led to many lenders introducing a 'pure interest only' form of mortgage, one which needs no proof of a repayment vehicle. By August 2007, it was estimated that 29% of first time buyer loans were interest only leading to calls for caution from the mortgage sector. "Although interest only mortgages play a vital part in the mortgage industry, often providing the only means for first time buyers to hold the key to their own front door, misusing this type of loan is counter-productive," said Moneynet.co.uk chief executive Richard Brown