Mortgage fees in the UK have reached a record high, new research has shown.
Carried out by Moneyfacts.co.uk, the study revealed the average home loan arrangement cost has climbed 70 per cent since March 2008.
It was revealed that such costs jumped from £899 to £1,514 in the four-year period, even though the level briefly dipped to £924 in September 2010.
Sylvia Waycot, finance expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk – which is regulated by the Financial Services Authority – expressed surprise at the findings, claiming there is no logical reason for such steep increases.
Ms Waycot noted: “Mortgage administration costs can’t have jumped 70 per cent. Credit searches are no more complex than in previous years, so why are fees so high?”
One reason for the trend, the expert suggested, is that lenders are looking to get their money immediately and are not concerned about the full length of the mortgage contract being fulfilled.
According to the research, mortgage rates have moved in the opposite direction to arrangement fees and have typically reduced by up to two per cent since 2008.