Housing
Negative equity is a timing problem until you have to move
Owing more than the property is worth changes nothing month to month. It changes everything the moment you need to sell.
Housing
Renting, buying, mortgages and the costs that never make the headline figure.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Housing
A deposit is saved in one market and spent in another
Saving for a home means running against a moving target. Whether you gain ground depends on two rates at once.
Housing
An offset arrangement pays you the borrowing rate on your savings
Linking savings to a mortgage reduces the interest charged instead of earning interest. The arithmetic differs from a normal…
Housing
Interest-only borrowing needs a repayment plan that is not the house
Paying only the interest keeps the balance intact for the whole term. Something else has to clear it at the end.
Housing
The rate you are moved to when a deal ends is the one to plan for
Fixed and discounted periods expire. What happens next is set out in the offer and rarely looked at.
Housing
Two incomes on one mortgage is a decision about the worse case
Borrowing against combined earnings raises what a lender will advance. It also ties the commitment to both incomes continuing.
Housing
Porting a mortgage is a permission, not a right
Taking your rate with you when you move sounds automatic. It involves a fresh application and can be declined.
Housing
Most home improvements return less than they cost
Spending on a property is not the same as investing in it. The relationship between outlay and value is weaker than assumed.
Housing
A longer commute is a cost paid every working day
Cheaper housing further out is a trade, not a saving. The other side of the trade is money and time, both recurring.