Its time “APR”, or Annual Percentage Rate calculations were removed from mortgage illustrations
One of the most bewildering and confusing items on any mortgage illustration must be the Annual Percentage Rate or APR listed on a product.
APR gives a comparative measure between various loans to show the overall cost of borrowing on an annual basis, taking into account a broad range of fees, not just the interest alone, as well as giving a more direct comparison of the impact of a daily calculation of interest versus other less favourable terms.
Now, that is a good thing where the calculation makes sense, but for mortgage products, in its current guise, it makes no sense at all.
A simple look at the best buy tables on our website will show you; a product far cheaper during its initial deal may have a much higher APR than a product with a considerably higher interest rate and identical fees.
That is because the APR is calculated over the whole lifetime of the loan and will include the reversion rate of the product after its initial term.
There are several reasons why this is misleading;
- Reversion rates are generally variable and are not linked directly to the Bank of England Base Rate. In two years a lender with a previously un-competitive reversion rate could lead the market and vice versa. Hence it is not a factor that should play a major part in the decision-making process.
- Generally, customers should remortgage regularly during the early years of their mortgage repayment to ensure a competitive interest rate, including the reversion rate after the initial mortgage term distorts the picture.
- A clever design can skew the figure. Lifetime trackers appear very competitive because they have no reversion rate, and refunding upfront fees affects the calculation but could cost a pretty penny if the loan never goes ahead.
APR is a system that was never really designed for mortgage contracts but has become a legal obligation when advertising them; due to the confused dual regulatory system; between the FSA and the Office of Fair Trading. APR makes some sense on unsecured loans and little in the mortgage market.
It is high time that dual regulation ceased and APR calculations either scrapped on mortgage contracts or replaced with something far more specific to the complex nature of a mortgage product.