One in five people in the UK are overpaying on their home loan by staying on their lender's Standard Variable Rate (SVR), a report has claimed.

Those living in north Scotland are the worst offenders, with a staggering 35 per cent on the SVR, according to price comparison website moneysupermarket.com.

Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, said: "It's unbelievable so many people are playing into the lenders' hands and paying the standard variable rate.

"As this is likely to be at least 2 per cent above the leading rates available, this lack of action to review their mortgage could be costing borrowers dearly - having both a negative impact on their lifestyle and their future prosperity.

"Despite recent base rate rises, an unacceptable number are still on their lender's SVR."

Louise Cuming, moneysupermarket.com: "It's unbelievable so many people are playing into the lenders' hands and paying the standard variable rate."

The study also revealed that the most popular mortgage among Brits is a two-to five-year fixed-rate deal, with just over a quarter opting for this type of product to hedge against future interest rate rises.

And while an offset mortgage is one of the best ways to help mitigate rate rises, awareness is so low that just 4 per cent have chosen this type of deal, the report found.

The findings are the first in a series from the moneysupermarket.com 'Mortgage Map', which aims to uncover patterns and trends within the mortgage sector.

Nationally, more than half of those surveyed show they prefer the stability offered by a fixed-rate product.

Two-to-five years is significantly the most popular term overall, with just over a quarter of Brits opting for this type of mortgage.

The largest percentage of borrowers opting for five-to-10 year fixed-rate deals are from the South West (25 per cent).

This is compared to a national figure of 7 per cent and just 3 per cent in the North East.

Just over one in 10 Brits are currently on a tracker mortgage. This nearly doubles to one in five for those in the south of the UK.

Cuming added: "Trackers are still a relatively new phenomenon, typically favouring discount mortgages these days and I expect this trend to rise."

The report also found that 24 per cent of people own their property outright, with 42 per cent of households currently paying a mortgage.

The article Fifth of homeowners overpaying originally appeared on 999 Today