2.5 million people in Britain, equivalent to 16% of all mortgage holders, have never changed their mortgage product, rising to 23% of those aged 55 or over, according to new research from YouGov and digital mortgage broker Habito.
A further 26% have not changed for over five years, with 9% saying they wouldn’t think of moving mortgage unless they were also moving house.
Even in the event that there were clear financial savings on offer, 24% say there is no interest rate reduction that would make them consider going back through the application process again.
Habits claims the research demonstrates the huge financial cost that Britons are willing to pay in order to avoid going through the mortgage application process again.
More than 1.9 million people are “overwhelmed” by the process of getting a mortgage, while 6% of mortgage holders, equivalent to over 850,000 people, say it was the most stressful experience of their life.
49% of mortgage holders – or over 7 million people – say they would need to secure at least a 1% reduction in the interest rate on their mortgage in order switch; 14% say they would need the reduction to be as high as 3% as a minimum.
Daniel Hegarty, CEO and founder of Habito, said: “A revolution is coming in the way people find, apply for and manage their mortgage. The conventional application process is out of date and stressful, because there has been zero technological innovation in this space in the last 20 years. The fact that people are willing to potentially handover hundreds, if not thousands, more than they need to, rather than re-apply is a shocking indictment of the state of the service they are receiving.
“Technology is the only way to bring mortgages into the 21st century. We’re seeing a new breed of digital mortgage brokers emerge who use software to help people find the right mortgage and apply for it in as little as 30 minutes online, totally paper-free.”