Some mortgage companies are actually paying borrowers up to £25,000 or 10% of the value of their outstanding mortgage, to take their mortgage to another lender. It’s all because they need to down-size their mortgage portfolios in the wake of the credit crunch.

The problems are particularly difficult for the companies that lent to those borrowers with relatively poor credit track records – the sub-prime market. And it is precisely these lenders who are paying the highest rates of interest.

So we sniff an opportunity! If you took out a mortgage when your credit record was, well let’s say “less than perfect”, but your record has since improved, try asking your lender if they will pay you to move your mortgage elsewhere. You might get a rather nice surprise. Then you can use that money towards the deposit for your replacement mortgage and the odds are that you’ll end up with a mortgage at a much lower interest rate than you were previously paying. We know of one family who did this and their monthly repayments fell from £475 to £240.

But a word of warning. Check out how much equity you have with your existing mortgage. With house prices having fallen, even with the “goodbye payment” you may still not have enough equity in the house to fund the necessary 10% deposit you’ll need for the replacement mortgage. If you’re going to have a difficulty funding a 10% deposit with everything taken into account, the deal’s not on.