Life Saver-or a Life Sentence?

挽救生命或生活的句子吗？

Growing numbers of first-time buyers desperate to get on the housing ladder but struggling to afford sky-high house prices are being encouraged to tie themselves into mortgages lasting 35, 40 ,or even 45 years. With today's buyers requiring ever-larger home loans, some banks and building societies have come up with a clever trick for bringing the dream of home ownership within their reach: increasing the term of the loan in order to reduce the monthly payments. But it's a trick with a nasty catch. While your monthly outlay will be lower, by the time the deal comes to an end you'll have paid far more - perhaps an extra $150,000 - than if you had a standard 25-year mortgage.

首次购房者的绝望争取买房但挣扎负担的天空高价格的房子都被鼓励把自己绑到抵押贷款持续35，40越来越多，甚至45年。今天的买家需要更大的住房贷款，一些银行和建筑协会想出了让房屋所有权的梦想在他们到达一个巧妙的方法：以贷款期限的增加减少每月的付款。但它是令人讨厌的抓到窍门。当你每月的支出将下降，由协议即将结束，你会付出更多的可能是一个额外的150000美元——比如果你有一个标准的25年抵押贷款的时间。

Robert McLean, 36, recently signed up for a mortgage with Northern Rock in which he is allowed to pay back over 35 years, by which point he will be 71. He recently bought a two-bedroom house with his wife, and was offered a five-year fixed-rate deal with an initial rate of 6.2%. To offset this high interest rate the bank recommended its Together mortgage, which allows the couple to borrow more than most high street lenders allow and to stretch the term of the loan. Mr. McLean (not his real name) does not have a permanent job but works on contract in the public sector. Despite this, he says the bank allowed him and his partner to borrow more than four times their joint earnings. "They asked what my job was and if I worked part-time. Nothing about contract working. Then they wanted to know how much we earned and if we had any debts on credit cards or loans," he says: "For us it was a no-brainer because the monthly payments were only a little above the rent we were paying."

罗伯特麦克林，36，更近签署了与北岩，允许他偿还超过35年的按揭贷款，这一点他将71。他更近买了一二间卧室的房子和他的妻子，并提供6.2%的初步税率五年固定利率合同。为了抵消这种高利率的银行推荐其共同抵押，这使得对借入超过更高街银行允许和伸展的贷款期限。麦克莱恩先生(不是他的真名)没有一个固定的工作，但在公共部门中的合同工程。尽管如此，他说，银行让他和他的伙伴借贷超过四倍的共同收入。”他们问我的工作是什么，如果我做兼职工作。没有合同的工作。他们想知道我们如何获得，如果我们有信用卡和贷款债务，”他说：“对我们来说这是没有道理的，按月支付仅略高于租金我们支付的。”

As for the future, the couple hope their finances will improve dramatically over the next few years, enabling them to pay off the mortgage before they retire.

对于未来，他们希望他们的财务状况将大大改善，在未来几年内，使他们能够还清抵押贷款，他们在退休之前。

They are not the only ones who are being offered the option of going long on their borrowing. If the trend for extending people's mortgage term accelerates, it could mean we end up waving goodbye to the traditional 25-year loan.

他们是不是正在提供去长期借贷的选项只有。如果延长人的抵押期限加快的趋势，这可能意味着我们更终告别传统的25年的贷款。

Northern Rock isn't the only lender willing to let people borrow over a longer period of time. Cheltenham &Gloucester will let home buyers repay their mortgage over a period of up t0 35 years, while the Halifax, HSBC, Coventry Building Society and Ulster Bank are among those that will go up t0 40 years. Intriguingly, the Coventry will allow people to have a mortgage that last until they are 85 years old. Last month, Bradford &Bingley trumped them all with a deal that boasts a maximum term of 45 years. However, to be fair, this is a mortgage aimed at young professional first-time buyers training to be solicitors, accountants and the like, whose incomes are highly likely to increase substantially over the coming years.

北岩不是只愿意让人们借更长时间的贷款。切尔滕纳姆和格洛斯特会让购房者偿还他们的抵押贷款超过多达35年，而在哈利法克斯，汇丰银行，考文垂建筑协会和阿尔斯特银行是那些将上升到40年。有趣的是，考文垂会让人们有一个抵押贷款，直到他们是85岁。上个月，Bradford & Bingley压倒了他们所有的交易，拥有45年的期限。然而，为了公平，这是一个针对首次购房者的抵押贷款的年轻职业培训是律师，会计师等，其收入在未来几年大幅增加，很有可能。

Brian Murphy at independent home loans broker mortgage Advice Bureau is one of those concerned about the current trend. "Stretching a mortgage term to lower the payments is a risky business," he says. "We always advise client to keep repayments to as short a term as possible, to enable them to free up money for pre-retirement investments."

布瑞恩墨菲在独立的房屋贷款经纪人抵押贷款咨询局是那些关注当前的趋势。”拉伸抵押期限降低支付是一个高风险的业务，”他说。”我们总是建议客户保持还款在尽可能短的期限，以使他们能够自由资金为退休前的投资。”

Ray Boulger has for some years been predicting a shift towards longer-term mortgages in the UK. He believes that for the right people in the right circumstances, opting for a longer borrowing period can be a sensible solution to the problem of affordability, but adds: "In the wrong hands it can be dangerous." While everyone should aim to pay their mortgage back by the time they retire, with the state retirement age moving up t0 68 by 2044 and people living longer, it is perfectly reasonable to expect mortgage borrowers to be retiring later in future, says Mr. Boulger. Some aged 36 now who takes out a 35-year home loan will almost certainly not keep that mortgage until they are 71 - they will probably remortgage and move house. "As soon as you can afford to pay more, you should shorten the term or make overpayments," he adds.

Ray Boulger已经有些年头了，在长期抵押贷款在英国一个位移预测。他认为，在适当的情况下正确的人，选择一个较长的借款期限可以承受能力，问题的明智的解决方案，但补充说：“在错误的手中，它可能是危险的。“虽然每个人都应该支付他们的抵押贷款回他们退休的时候，与国家的退休年龄的运动多达68的2044人活得更长，这是完全合理的预期抵押贷款的借款人是退休后在未来，博尔格先生说。一些36岁谁拿出35年的房贷几乎肯定不会让抵押直到71 -他们可能会再抵押和搬家。”只要你能付得起更多，你应该缩短周期或付款，”他补充道。

We asked Northern Rock about Mr. McLean's case. A spokeswoman says 35 years is the maximum mortgage term that it offers, adding: "It is unusual for someone to take out a mortgage for that length of time." However, she says it is an option for people who want to keep their payments very low. Provided borrowers have arrangements in place to continue making repayments after they retire, Northern Rock will lend to them.

我们向北岩对麦克林的案例。一位女发言人说，35年来更大的抵押期限，它提供了，说：“有人拿了这么长时间的按揭是不寻常的。”但是，她说这是人谁想要保持他们的支付很低的一个选项。提供借款人已经安排继续偿还他们退休后，北岩银行借钱给他们。

Some might say that if house prices continue to rise in excess of earning, the only way repayments can remain affordable is by increasing the term of the loan.

有些人可能会说，如果房价继续上涨超过收入，还款可以负担得起的唯一方法是增加的贷款期限。

But others say this is a ticking time bomb, the tactics used by those loan consolidation companies that offer people the chance to bring all their debts together into "one easy payment" that is substantially less than their current monthly payments - but which do this by spreading them over a much longer period, meaning more interest is paid.

但也有人说这是一个定时炸弹，这些合并贷款公司提供的人有机会让他们所有的债务成“分期付款”，基本上小于目前的每月付款，但可以通过扩展他们在更长的时期使用的策略，意味着更多的利息收入。