6 in 10 homeowners could overlook ways to save by skipping budget reviews
Homeowners could be missing out on opportunities to save money and improve their financial resilience because they’re not regularly checking their budget, according to the HomeOwners Alliance (7 May 2026).
Indeed, the research found that almost two-thirds of homeowners have not reviewed their budget in the last year. Regular budget reviews could help you keep track of rising bills and ensure your figures reflect any changes to your outgoings.
As a homeowner, your mortgage and financial resilience are important parts of your financial health. If you haven’t reviewed these areas in a while, here’s why you could benefit from doing so soon.
A mortgage review could save you money in the short and long term
If you haven’t looked at your mortgage agreement recently, you’re not alone. The HomeOwners Alliance research found that 86% of homeowners have not reviewed their mortgage statements in the last 12 months.
Taking a look at your paperwork could help you understand the remaining balance, interest rate, and repayments.
Over the last year, the Bank of England has made several changes to the base interest rate, which may have a direct effect on your repayments now or when it’s time to remortgage. So, it’s worth checking what interest rate you’re paying now, whether the interest rate you pay is variable, and when the mortgage deal expires.
If you don’t have a mortgage deal in place or your existing deal will end soon, securing a deal with a lower interest rate could reduce your repayments. Not only could this boost your budget in the short term, but it could mean you pay far less in interest over the full mortgage term, so it supports your long-term finances as well.
Including your mortgage in a wider budget review might also highlight an opportunity to pay off the debt more quickly through overpayments.
Imagine you have £200,000 remaining on your repayment mortgage and a term of 15 years. Your interest rate is 4%, leading to regular repayments of £1,480 a month. If you made monthly overpayments of £150, you’d clear the debt one year and nine months earlier, plus you’d save more than £8,600 in interest.
Be sure to check the terms of your mortgage before you make overpayments. In some cases, you could face an early repayment charge that might negate the benefits of the additional payments.
So, reviewing your mortgage regularly might highlight how you could save money by taking out a new deal or overpaying.
A review could support your financial resilience
Missing mortgage repayments could mean you risk losing your home. As a result, reviewing your financial resilience could be an important step for homeowners and may indicate where adjustments are needed.
Check your emergency fund
When assessing your financial resilience, your emergency fund is often a good place to start. Yet, 78% of homeowners have not calculated how long their emergency fund would cover essential expenses.
As a general rule, you should aim to have around six months of expenses in your emergency fund. This means you could cover your bills in the short term following a financial shock, such as being unable to work due to an illness.
If your emergency fund falls short of this goal, adding to your financial safety net could be valuable.
Calculate if your financial protection needs have changed
Financial protection could provide you with a capital injection when you need it most. You can typically choose the level of cover, but your needs could change. According to the survey, among homeowners with cover, 1 in 3 have never reassessed it.
Start by finding your paperwork and reviewing under what circumstances you could receive a payout and how much it would be. You can then calculate if it’s enough to meet your needs and if you have any gaps in your cover.
For example, you might have life insurance, which would pay out a lump sum to beneficiaries if you pass away, to protect your family. But do you have any form of cover that could support you if an illness meant you had to stop work for an extended period?
Appropriate financial protection could support your financial resilience and offer peace of mind.
Contact us
If you’d like to discuss your mortgage or financial protection needs, please get in touch. We could refer you to a trust mortgage broker who may help you.
Please note:
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Note that financial protection plans typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.
Cover is subject to terms and conditions and may have exclusions. Definitions of illnesses vary from product provider and will be explained within the policy documentation.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loans secured on it.