In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the UK has announced it will offer a mortgage holiday for those adversely affected by the economic slowdown.
That means a waiver on paying the mortgage for a set amount of time.
Britain's Finance Minister, Rishi Sunak, made the announcement yesterday, saying for "those who are in difficulty due to the coronavirus, mortgage lenders will now offer a three-month mortgage holiday so that people will not have to pay a penny towards their mortgage costs while they get back on their feet".
The developments are being closely followed here. One mortgage company told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp that 80 per cent of its customers live paycheck to paycheck.
Australian banks are also considering the move. A New Zealand mortgage advisor says she thinks it's inevitable for our country.
Sara Hartigan says people in the UK still have to prove how their business or livelihood would be affected, but that the outcome for New Zealanders would likely be the same.
"I know the big four banks have been in talks for the last four to five days on how to help New Zealanders through this crisis," she says.
"You'd have to show you were somehow directly affected and it wasn't just poor money management skills, poor planning, unnecessary spending.
"It's not free money. It's basically - you get to step away from making the payment of your mortgage for a set period of time. But the interest doesn't stop, it still accumulates.
"The home loan payment is obviously the biggest bill a family has - it's either rent or your home loan payment."
Ms Hartigan says banks would rather Kiwis went on a short period of non-payment arranged with the bank so they can meet the rest of the household needs.
During the global financial crisis in 2007/8, Ms Hartigan says the average mortgage holiday lasted about three months.
"That gave people enough time to figure out their financial situation, what's actually going to happen in the future and whether they were going to sell their property," she says.
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