17
Oct
Buyers choosing risky joint mortgages
Desperation to get on the property ladder is prompting more and
more first-time buyers to opt for joint mortgages with people they
hardly know.
According to figures to Skipton Building Society, one in five first
time buyers who have taken out a mortgage with someone other than
their husband or wife have done so with people they have known for
less than a year.
The chief reason cited by those doing so (56 per cent of
respondents) is because a joint deal made good financial sense at
the time.
However, the perils of hastily embarked-on joint deals were
underlined by the survey's findings that one in ten of people whose
joint mortgages came to an end were left with nothing from the
sale.
Skipton spokeswoman Jennifer Holloway said: "We can all understand
the panic that potential homebuyers must feel at the news that
house prices are still rising – to them, the dream of
affording their own home has turned into a nightmare.
"But desperation shouldn’t mean that caution is entirely
thrown to the wind; at Skipton, we’ve seen first hand what
can happen when people, particularly relative strangers, have
bought in haste only to repent at leisure - usually with emptier
pockets."
