Home Mortgages Worried about your mortgage payments?

Worried about your mortgage payments?

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up your payments

We're here to help

We can all fall on hard times. As the cost of living continues to rise, many households are worried about the impact this may have on their ability to maintain their mortgage payments.

We're here to help with information on how you can reduce and manage your monthly payments.

If you can find a way to continue your current mortgage payments, then you should do so. But we can offer you other options in case you can't.

How the Mortgage Charter helps

first direct, along with other banks, has agreed to the commitments of the Mortgage Charter released by the UK government in June 2023. The charter sets out how banks give customers additional flexibility with their mortgages.

The Mortgage Charter says that customers can:

  • contact their bank to discuss options for support without affecting your credit score.
  • extend their mortgage term, with the option to reverse it within 6 months.
  • choose to pay only the interest payable on their mortgage for a 6-month period.

Accessing the government’s mortgage charter support will not result in any affordability checks, or any marker being added to your credit file. Factual changes will be reflected, such as any changes to monthly payments or terms, but these will not impact your ability to apply for credit longer term.

Separately from the charter, first direct already offers the option of switching your mortgage rate. We won't need to check your eligibility or credit rating, so switching doesn't affect your credit score either.

It's important to make sure that any changes you make to your mortgage are right for you. We've outlined your options here but if you have any questions, call us on 0800 389 8347 and we'll be happy to help. Lines are open 8am – 8pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am – 8pm Sunday.

A chat about your options won't affect your credit score, so the sooner you get in touch with us, the sooner we can help.

Important information

If you've already missed a mortgage payment, our money worries page has guidance on what to do next.

If you haven't missed a payment yet but feel you would benefit from a reduction in your monthly payments for a 6 month period, please read through your options to find out which one might be the best for you.

Explore your Options

  • Temporary Interest Only Payments

    If you have a Repayment mortgage but feel you would benefit financially from a reduction in your monthly payments, you may be able to change your monthly payment to just pay the interest for 6 months. After the 6 months, you'll go back to repaying both capital and interest.

  • Extending the term

    You may be able to extend the term (length) of your mortgage. This could help reduce your monthly payments.

Frequently asked questions

A: We won’t add any marker to your credit file where you use the options under the Mortgage Charter. Any changes to your monthly payment are reported as standard. Your credit score is owned and calculated by the Credit Reference Agency.

A: Your Standing Order will be adjusted automatically to reflect your new monthly payment if you repay your mortgage from a first direct account. If you don't repay your mortgage from a first direct account, then you'll need to make an adjustment to your standing order to ensure you are making the correct payment during this period.

A: If you use a temporary interest-only period for 6 months, it means that your monthly payments will only cover interest - not the mortgage amount you borrowed.

When the temporary interest-only period ends and you go back to paying your mortgage in the usual way, your payment will cover both the interest and the capital again. But as you'll then have 6 months less in which to pay off the capital, the amount of capital you'll need to pay back each month will be higher.

A: If you've already missed a mortgage payment, these options are not available to you. To discuss your mortgage and other options which might be available please call us on 03 456 100 193 (Lines are open 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am – 4pm Saturday).

A: Yes, you'll be able to take both options once during the life of your mortgage but we recommend taking these at different times as there will be limited benefit to taking them at the same time.

A: Our tracker and standard variable rates can go up or down at any time. We will write to you to let you know your new interest only payments if this happens.

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