How Many Extra Mortgage Payments Could You Make a Year?
This guide is for general information only and does not provide financial advice. Check your lender’s terms before overpaying, as early repayment charges may apply. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Some people make one or more extra payments a year, each equal to their monthly payment, instead of a regular monthly overpayment. There is no right number: it depends on what you can afford, on your lender’s yearly allowance and on your other priorities. This page shows what one, two or three extra payments a year could do in one example.
A worked example
Take a £200,000 mortgage at 4.5% with 25 years remaining and a payment of £1,111.66 a month. The table shows the estimated effect of extra payments of that size, made each year, and what share of the starting balance each option is per year. It assumes the rate stays the same, the extra payments are allowed without a charge and there are no fees.
| Extra payments each year | Amount a year | Share of the starting balance (first year) | Estimated result |
|---|---|---|---|
| One extra monthly payment a year (in month 12) | £1,112 | 0.6% | about £18,993 of interest saved, 3 years 2 months sooner |
| Two extra monthly payments a year (months 6 and 12) | £2,223 | 1.1% | about £33,691 of interest saved, 5 years 8 months sooner |
| Three extra monthly payments a year (months 4, 8 and 12) | £3,335 | 1.7% | about £44,941 of interest saved, 7 years 8 months sooner |
Whether amounts like these are within your lender’s yearly allowance depends on the lender and the deal. Some mortgages set a limit, often as a percentage of the balance, and the share column shows how each option compares with a limit expressed that way. Some allowances are measured on the current or original balance, so check which applies. Lenders’ own wording is on our lender pages. See the UK mortgage overpayment cap and lump sum versus monthly overpayments.
Questions worth asking
- Could you afford the extra payments in a year when your costs are higher?
- Does your lender count each extra payment towards the same yearly allowance?
- When in the year does your allowance reset? See when your allowance resets.
Figures are estimates from this site’s calculator. They assume a repayment mortgage, a rate that stays the same for the whole term and no fees or early repayment charges, and they are illustrations, not forecasts. Try your own figures in the free mortgage overpayment calculator.
If you are unsure whether overpaying suits you, consider speaking to a regulated mortgage adviser.
Questions people ask
How many extra payments should I make a year?
There is no right number. It depends on your budget, your lender’s allowance and your other priorities. The table shows one, two and three extra payments a year as examples, not a recommendation.
Is an extra payment the same as a lump sum?
In the example it is treated as one: a one-off overpayment made at that point in the year. Your lender may count it towards the same yearly allowance as any other overpayment.
How does an extra payment compare with a monthly overpayment?
It depends. In the calculator’s model, money that reaches your balance earlier reduces more interest than the same money paid later, but this page does not compare the two, and the size of the difference depends on your balance, rate and term. See lump sum versus monthly overpayments.
Related guides
how mortgage overpayments work, whether you pay interest on overpayments, what happens if you pay more each month, changing your term when you remortgage. See also how to overpay your mortgage, should I overpay my mortgage? and how much should I overpay?