Mortgage payment holidays are 'not a good idea'

All future and existing self builders and other mortgage holders have been warned not to take mortgage payment holidays.

According to David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool,co.uk, suggests that taking anyone who decides to take a break form their monthly payments could find themselves in even greater levels of debt.

Mr Kuo's advice comes hot on the heels of a study by uSwitch.com, which found that over two million homeowners are thinking about asking their mortgage provider for a payment holiday.

"If you are taking this holiday for a month or a year, what you'll end up with is a bigger interest bill at the end of the period which will be added on to your loan so you'll end up paying for it eventually," he added.

Over 800,000 consumers have already taken a payment holiday.

The research calculated that someone who has taken a year's payment holiday on a mortgage worth £150,000 will increase the total interest on the loan by more than £10,000, while £80 will be added to their monthly repayments.