The Mortgage Charter: what lenders signed up to

The Mortgage Charter is a set of promises that mortgage lenders across the UK have made to borrowers worried about higher interest rates. The government published it on 26 June 2023, and the lenders that signed it represent around 90% of the mortgage market¹. In practice, that means most people with a residential mortgage are with a lender that has made these commitments.

The Charter is not a law. It is a voluntary agreement, but it is backed by rule changes the Financial Conduct Authority made to let lenders deliver it, including exemptions from normal affordability checks for the temporary options⁴. The commitments include switching to a new deal at the end of a fixed rate without another affordability check, locking in a new rate up to six months ahead, a six-month switch to interest-only payments, a term extension with six months to change back, and a promise not to repossess a home within 12 months of a first missed payment without the borrower's consent¹.

What the Mortgage Charter is and who agreed it

The Charter sets out the standards lenders will adopt when helping their regulated residential mortgage borrowers who are worried about higher rates¹. It was published by the government on 26 June 2023⁶, and most of its commitments took effect from the end of June 2023, when the FCA's supporting rule changes came into force, with the rate lock option following from 10 July 2023³.

The government has since republished the Charter, most recently in March 2026, when mortgage lenders across the industry reaffirmed their commitment to it⁸. The 2026 version lists 46 named lender groups under "Lenders who have signed up to this Charter"¹. Earlier FCA uptake data, from 2024, put the figure at 49 signatories representing around 90% of the market⁹, and a Which? news report from November 2024 used the same numbers¹⁰. The counts differ because lender groups merge and the list is updated, but the coverage figure has stayed at around 90% throughout.

Because the Charter is voluntary, it sits on top of, rather than instead of, the FCA's existing rules on how lenders must treat borrowers in difficulty. The Financial Ombudsman has confirmed that it expects lenders to have considered the Charter options when a borrower complains about how they were treated, so the commitments have real weight in practice⁶.

Who can use it: up-to-date borrowers on residential mortgages

The Charter's headline options are aimed at a specific group: borrowers with a regulated residential mortgage who are up to date with their payments and worried about rising rates¹. The Charter describes the temporary options as available "on a one-off basis" to customers who are up to date¹.

That up-to-date requirement matters. The interest-only switch and the term extension exist to stop people falling into arrears, not to help once they have already missed payments. If you are already behind, different rules apply, covered later in this page, and your lender still has to work with you under the FCA's forbearance rules.

The Charter applies across the UK. The Scottish Government's cost of living guidance confirms the Charter has applied from June 2023 to the present and covers help with high interest rates and repayment problems¹¹, and equivalent advice is published for borrowers in Wales and Northern Ireland¹³.

Switching to a new deal without an affordability check

The first commitment is support for customers who are up to date with payments to switch to a new mortgage deal at the end of their existing fixed rate without another affordability check¹. The House of Commons Library summarises the same rule: customers who are up to date can switch to a new deal with their lender at the end of their existing fixed-rate agreement without a new affordability check⁵.

This applies where you are staying with your lender, not borrowing more, and not changing your repayment type or term. The government notes this switching commitment covers 97% of the mortgage market, where customers are up to date with payments and not seeking to borrow more or change their repayment type or term¹. Debt charities put the same point simply: if your lender has signed, you do not need an affordability check for the temporary options such as extending the term or switching to interest only for six months¹⁵.

There are limits. Affordability will need to be checked if you wish to permanently convert to an interest-only mortgage, or where the mortgage term would be extended beyond your expected retirement date¹. So the no-check rule covers temporary, like-for-like changes, not permanent changes to how you repay.

Locking in a rate up to six months ahead

Customers approaching the end of a fixed rate deal can lock in a new deal up to six months ahead¹. Six months is the maximum time lenders may offer for customers to sign up to a new deal under the Charter¹. This option took effect from 10 July 2023³.

The useful part is what happens after you lock in. You can request a better like-for-like deal from your lender right up until two weeks before your new term starts, if one is available¹. Rates must be finalised two weeks before the new term starts¹. So if rates fall between the moment you lock in and that two-week cut-off, you can ask to move to the better deal. The Financial Ombudsman gives the same explanation: your lender can offer a new rate up to six months before your old one expires, and you can change your mind if rates go down¹⁷.

The rate lock window under the Mortgage Charter, from six months before the fix ends to the two-week finalisation deadline.

Interest-only for six months: how the temporary switch works

If you are up to date with your payments and your lender has signed the Charter, your lender should allow you to switch to interest-only payments for six months¹⁸. A temporary switch to interest-only means you just pay the interest on your mortgage, without repaying the loan itself, for a set period of time²⁰. Scope, the disability equality charity, describes it as one of the two Charter support options: you can switch to interest-only repayments for six months²¹.

The switch is temporary. After the six months, you go back to repaying capital and interest, and because you have not reduced the balance during the switch, your monthly payments afterwards will be higher than they would otherwise have been, and the total cost over the life of the mortgage will be higher¹. The FCA made rule changes to make this possible: its policy statement PS24/2 created limited exemptions from affordability requirements, allowing lenders to vary a mortgage contract to temporarily reduce capital payments, including to zero and paying interest only, for up to six months, without assessing affordability⁴.

An affordability check is not usually needed for this switch, and the support is not expected to affect a borrower's credit file¹⁸. The switch is requested by contacting the lender; no application fee or form is specified in the Charter itself.

Extending your mortgage term, with six months to change back

The other temporary option is extending your mortgage term to reduce your monthly payments¹. Guidance gives examples of how this works: extending from 15 to 20 years²¹, or stretching a term from 30 years to 35 years²⁰. The longer the term, the more months the balance is spread over, so each monthly payment is smaller.

The Charter gives you a safety net: you can revert to your original term within six months by contacting your lender¹. The House of Commons Library confirms that customers changing mortgage terms, for example interest-only or term extension, have the option to revert to their original deal within six months without affecting their credit score⁵. Debt charities give the same advice: lenders should also give you the option to revert back to your original term within six months¹⁸.

The FCA's rules mirror this. PS24/2 allows lenders to reverse a term extension within six months of it taking effect, without assessing affordability⁴. As with the interest-only switch, affordability will need to be checked if the term would extend beyond your expected retirement date¹.

The two Charter options that reduce monthly payments, and what they have in common.

One option, once: the limits on using the Charter

The Charter's temporary options are one-off. The government describes the interest-only switch and term extension as available to up-to-date customers "on a one-off basis"¹. The FCA's rules behind them are explicit: the exemptions can be used by any mortgage lender once per contract, except for second charge and bridging loan contracts⁴.

In practice this means you cannot stack the options, going interest-only for six months and then extending your term under the Charter, and you cannot repeat the same option on the same mortgage once it has been used. The switch to a new deal without an affordability check is a separate commitment and works each time your fixed rate ends, but the payment-reducing options are single use.

The six-month revert window on a term extension is part of the same one-off use. If you extend your term and then revert within six months, that is the option being used and undone, not two separate uses.

Does the Mortgage Charter affect your credit file?

The Charter's own answer is that it should not. Anyone worried about their mortgage repayments can contact their lender for help and guidance, without any impact on their credit file¹. The temporary options can be taken by up-to-date customers without a new affordability check or affecting their credit score¹. Scope states the same plainly of both support options: "They will not affect your credit score."²¹

Debt charities repeat this: an affordability check is not usually needed and this support is not expected to affect a borrower's credit file¹⁸. The House of Commons Library confirms the revert option within six months also comes without affecting the credit score⁵.

The important distinction is between the Charter options and arrears. Missing a payment, or entering a forbearance arrangement after falling behind, can appear on your credit file. Using the Charter while up to date should not. That is a strong reason to contact your lender before you miss a payment rather than after, a point Which? makes directly in its reporting on the Charter¹⁰.

The extra cost of paying less now

Both payment-reducing options cost more in the end. The government's own Charter wording warns that monthly payments after the support may be higher than they otherwise would have been, and overall costs over the life of the mortgage will be higher¹. Shelter puts it the same way: these options can reduce your monthly payments now, but they cost more over the lifetime of the mortgage¹⁵.

The mechanics are straightforward. On interest-only, you pay no capital for six months, so the balance is unchanged when you return to repayment, and the same debt is cleared over a shorter remaining term. On a term extension, the balance is spread over more months, so interest is charged for longer. Neither is free money; both are a rearrangement of when you pay.

The scale of take-up gives a sense of how widely the options have been used. Around 132,000 mortgage holders had temporarily reduced their monthly payments under the rules as of November 2024¹⁰. Scottish Government analysis found that around 3.7% of borrowers had reduced monthly payments by switching temporarily to interest-only payments or extending loan terms since mid-2023, a figure that stayed stable into early 2026¹¹.

12 months before repossession without your consent

The Charter's most quoted commitment is on repossession. A borrower will not be forced to leave their home without their consent, unless in exceptional circumstances, in less than a year from their first missed payment¹. The House of Commons Library describes it as a minimum 12-month period from the first missed payment before there is a repossession without consent⁵, and the Financial Ombudsman confirms that lenders signed up to the Charter have agreed not to repossess until at least 12 months after you first miss payments²².

The commitment dates from 26 June 2023²³. Debt charities summarise it as: a borrower is not forced to leave their home within 12 months of their first missed mortgage payment unless they agree to do so¹⁸, and Shelter notes that people with mortgages will not be forced to leave their home within a year of their first missed payment¹⁵.

Two things to hold onto. First, the protection is about repossession without your consent: if you agree to leave, or to an assisted voluntary sale, the 12 months does not apply in the same way. Second, "exceptional circumstances" is not defined in the Charter, so the protection is strong but not absolute. The FCA's uptake data records the commitment as not forcing a borrower to leave without consent, unless in exceptional circumstances, in less than a year from the first missed payment⁹.

Where the Charter does not apply: buy-to-let, arrears and second charges

The Charter's commitments do not apply to Buy to Let mortgages¹. This is stated in the Charter itself and repeated in the government's guidance²⁵. Buy-to-let borrowers worried about payments need to speak to their lender directly, since the standard forbearance rules for regulated residential mortgages do not carry over in the same way.

Second charge mortgages are a grey area. Debt charities state plainly that it is unclear whether the Mortgage Charter applies to second charge mortgages²⁶. The FCA's exemptions in PS24/2 explicitly exclude second charge and bridging loan contracts from the once-per-contract affordability exemptions⁴, which suggests the temporary options at least are not available on those loans. If you have a second charge mortgage, the position is uncertain and worth raising with the lender directly.

The Charter's headline options also assume you are up to date. They are not designed for borrowers already in arrears, and a payment holiday, where payments stop altogether for a few months, is not one of the Charter's named options. StepChange describes a mortgage payment break as part or all of your mortgage payments being put on hold for a set period, a form of deferment that lenders may offer under general forbearance, with missed payments caught up before the term ends and interest still charged²⁷. Payment holidays can be requested on mortgages, credit cards, loans and hire purchase agreements²⁹, but they are a separate thing from the Charter.

If you are already behind: other help from lenders

If you have mortgage arrears, meaning you are behind with your payments, the Charter's up-to-date options are not the right door, but there are others. Your mortgage provider will contact you to find out why your payment has not come through, and at that point should give you the chance to get payments back on track³⁰. If you miss repayments and cannot agree a plan, your lender might start court action to repossess your home³¹, so the earlier you engage, the more options exist.

Lenders can offer several forms of help to borrowers in difficulty, including a payment holiday, an interest-only arrangement, a longer term, or an assisted voluntary sale scheme²⁹. On the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, nidirect confirms that where payments are behind, the lender may arrange a forbearance agreement, allowing the missed payments to be repaid³². Where court action has begun, the lender can be contacted directly, or through an advice worker or solicitor, before the court date to propose paying the instalments and clearing the arrears within a reasonable time¹⁴.

Free, independent help is available: National Debtline and Business Debtline publish guides on mortgage arrears and help with mortgage payments¹⁸, StepChange covers mortgage arrears and payment holidays²⁷, Citizens Advice explains what happens when a lender takes you to court³³, and Shelter in England and Shelter Cymru in Wales advise on preventing court action¹⁵. The Financial Ombudsman can look at complaints about how a lender has treated you in financial difficulty²².