Mortgages: Your questions

Melanie Bien, Paula John and Simon Tyler

BBC Radio 4's Money Box Live
Wednesday, 11 February 2009,
at 1502 BST
On Radio 4 and Online

Programme transcript (20 pages)

On Wednesday's Money Box Live, Paul Lewis took your questions about mortgages and put them to a panel of expert guests.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has cut the Bank Rate by 0.5 percentage points to 1.0%.

This latest reduction is the fifth since October 2008, when the rate was reduced from 5.0% to 4.5%.

The decision will be welcomed by some customers with tracker and variable rate mortgages who could benefit from further falls in monthly repayments.

But not all lenders pass the cuts on in full and changes to standard variable rates may not take effect until 1 March.

If you were not lucky enough to take out the right tracker at the right time, your current mortgage is coming to an end or you are a first time buyer, you may need help looking for a competitive deal.

While figures from the Bank of England show an increase in the number of loans approved for house purchase in December, the financial information service Moneyfacts say the conditions attached to mortgages have become more severe and borrowers with less than 25% equity are being charged 2% more than those with 40% equity.

So for the latest mortgage news, whether you had a mortgage or you wanted to find one, you asked our panel of experts for advice.

How much can you borrow?

What sort of deposit will be required?

Should you consider trackers, discounted, offset or fixed rates - or switch to the standard variable rate?

What are the likely fees and is it unwise to add these to the mortgage product?

What are your rights and responsibilities if you cannot meet repayments?

Where can you find free advice and help?

Whatever your question, Paul Lewis and experts were here to offer advice.

Paul Lewis was joined by:

� Melanie Bien, director, Savills Private Finance

� Paula John, editor in chief, Your Mortgage Magazine

� Simon Tyler, managing director, Chase de Vere Mortgage Management