UK mortgage payment holidays extended for a further three months

Homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage due to Coronavirus will be able to extend their mortgage payment holiday for a further three months, or start making reduced payments, as proposed by the government.

The application period for mortgage holidays has also been extended until 31 October, to allow those who have not accessed one but are experiencing financial difficulty to access the support.

More than 1.8 million homeowners have taken a three-month mortgage holiday since the scheme was announced in March to help borrowers in financial difficulty because of the coronavirus crisis, according to Treasury figures. It was due to expire at the end of June.

The government said that while homeowners who had taken a mortgage holiday should restart marking payments if they could, it was extending the scheme until 31 October to help those still struggling with the impact of the coronavirus.

The deferred payments will still have to be paid back later on, so mortgage customers will face higher bills once the so-called holiday comes to an end.

Payment holidays and partial payment holidays should not have a negative impact on credit rating.