Can anyone help me figure out if I've done something really daft with my mortgage?

[boyracer]

18 months ago (when there was no credit crunching going on) we decided to remortgage. We had paid 3 years of a 25 year deal and had a bit left over each month so remortgaged for a 14 year term to try and get rid of it quickly. This offer ends in 18 months time. God knows what we will be able to afford by then and what interest rates will be. Will I be able to go back to the original terms of the deal without wrecking my credit rating?

yes when tger mends you choose whatever mortgage you want/need/can get. You could probabkly renegotiate a longer term now if things get a bit tight.

yes, deffo remortgage for a longer term next time. I'm not sure about doing it before then as you may incur penalties, but you can go back to a 25 year one again provided you are young enough etc.

When we bought our new house we went back to 25 years from the 17 we had got down to. It was no problem at all.

So that you do eventually pay off the mortgage, why not trying to see if you could stretch financially to whatever the term would be left now if you had started off with a 25 year mortgage term.

So... if you first got a mortgage 5 years ago, then remortgage for 20 years.

Or if you first got a mortgage 8 years ago, go for a 17 year term.

Generally, IFAs recommend that you not return to a 25 year term if you can help it.

Also if things get dire, you can (i think most companies do) go onto an 'interest only' for a while.

There's no reason that i can think of why your credit rating should be affected if you move onto a longer term at the end of your current deal. If you've always managed to meet repayments etc there's no reason you shouldn't be able to get a reasonable deal (as far as that's possible at the moment), either over a longer term or a slightly shorter one.

thanks everyone. I heard something on the money programme on R4 and it made it sound like renegotiating the term of the deal was a problem. thanks again

not once your mortage deal has expired. They can;t hold you to a fixed term deal for a lifetime!