Cost of mortgage debt payments fell 20% last year

According to the Woolwich, monthly mortgage debt repayments fell by 20% last year - from an average of £607 in December 2008 to £497 in December 2009, the Telegraph reports.

Following reductions in the Bank of England`s base rate, homeowners spent just £157 of every £1,000 of their take-home pay on their mortgage debt in December - £39 lower than a year earlier.

Figures revealed that homeowners in London recorded the largest reduction in the average proportion of their take-home pay that they were using to service their mortgage debt. It fell by 23%, while homeowners in the North East saw the smallest reduction, of just 15.5%.

Head of mortgages at Woolwich, Andy Gray, said: "For the 11 million UK households who have a mortgage there is a silver lining to the recession - a substantial reduction in mortgage payments right when they need it most.

"For them it`s a chance to save in a way they might not have been able to before, or to overpay their mortgage and cut years from its life."

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