Martin Lewis was left “lost for words” by a question from a viewer on ITV’s This Morning.
The Money Saving Expert was giving advice to viewers of This Morning when one question from an elderly couple left him “baffled”.
The pair had recently discovered that a mortgage they had been paying for 40 years was interest only, leaving Martin unsure on how to help them.
Taking to Twitter following the exchange, he said: “Not often I'm lost for words on air.
PS of course also noted very likely the mortgage is very small compared to their current houseprice so they should have decent capital if they downsized
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) June 27, 2023
“Yet I admit i was a bit baffled how to answer a question read out on This Morning about a couple who've only just found out/realised the mortgage they've had for 40yrs was interest only.
“Details were scant so it was tough to work out what to say other than to point them to get 1-on-1 help.
“PS of course also noted very likely the mortgage is very small compared to their current houseprice so they should have decent capital if they downsized.”
Martin has recently spoken about the mortgage “ticking timebomb” in the country.
Around 2.4 million fixed-rate mortgages are due to end between now and the end of 2024, according to figures from UK Finance.
Many of these homeowners could be in for a bill shock when they come to remortgage, having been used to paying significantly lower rates.
According to the Resolution Foundation think-tank, annual mortgage repayments are set to rise by £2,900 for the average household remortgaging next year.
The Money Saving Expert attended a mortgage summit with the Chancellor in December to try and put plans in place to combat the issue.
Taking to Twitter as the average fixed two-year rate on offer topped 6% for the first time this year, Martin described the summit as a “missed opportunity talking shop”.
Martin said: “The summit in December was attended by the Chancellor, FCA chair, the bosses of UK's biggest banks and me (I'd asked for consumer charities & mortgage experts to attend too but that wasn't agreed - tho my team and I worked hard talking to charities and mortgage brokers before to collate ideas).
“My reason for suggesting the Chancellor took action was simple. We needed to prepare in case it rates rocketed - waiting for it to happen would be too late. Yet now, the time bomb has exploded, and we're scrambling about what to do.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here