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Impartial advice for UK mortgage holders

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has launched a new website that aims to offer impartial advice to UK mortgage holders.

The website will offer consumers a range of information and data on how to choose a UK mortgage product as well as providing jargon-free definitions of key terms such as APR.

A budget calculator will also enable people to assess how much they can afford to borrow and what the repayments will equal as well as a rundown of which companies are approved by the FSA.

"It used to be the case that consumers would be offered one type of mortgage by their bank or building society... these days there are so many different types of mortgages available, all with their own jargon," David Whiteley, FSA spokesman, told BBC News.

"Mortgage choice is a good thing but consumers need to arm themselves with more knowledge, this is where the website comes in," Mr Whiteley added.

The site has been created following research that showed many current UK mortgage holders have little understanding of the mortgage buying process. The study revealed that 56 per cent of first time buyers do not know what APR stood for, whilst 52 per of current UK mortgage holders did not know what their current APR was.


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