Homeowners using pensions to survive mortgage crisis

We've not seen any clients want to do this unexpectedly, but we do have clients with interest-only mortgages who always planned to use pensions/savings to clear chunks of the mortgage before the end of the term.

It's certainly the case that higher rates have led to many to question where their money is put to best use. Naturally, if it's a choice between keeping a roof over your family's head or contributing to a pension; this isn't a hard decision to make.

Not so much for interest-only mortgages or low loan-to-value mortgages, but for some borrowers, there's often other things they can do to reduce payments like extending the term of the mortgage and/or making a strategic overpayment to reduce their loan-to-value and secure a better rate.

Ultimately, the money in a pension is there to be spent at some point, but it's important to ensure that however it's used, fits in with the overall financial plan and what's most important.

The world we lived in 18 moths ago has been shattered and some people's retirement dreams are in tattters. We were used to near zero interest rates for well over a decade and some people planned their retirements based on being able to afford massive pension contibutions. The dream of retiring early has been re-evaluated for many whos mortgages have sky rocketed and forced their contributions down. Pension drawdown withdrawals are also expected to increase significantly this year too, as retirees struggle with making payments on thier mortgages or just about manage with a higher cost of living. Someones income can only be split a number of ways, and if mortgage costs and general living expenses are so much higher, retirement planning has taken a hit.