So is today the day you’ll cover this year’s mortgage?

TODAY is ‘mortgage freedom day’ – the date by which the average British homeowner has earned enough to cover mortgage costs for 2018. The phrase was coined by Halifax, whose maths is based on average payments for a new borrower coughing up a 30 per cent deposit.

It said the average annual mortgage repayment cost would be £8,039 and the average net annual income £27,724. But with UK house prices and wages varying, the date differs regionally.

It was on March 10 in Northern Ireland – while in England, it falls on May 9. Mortgage freedom day in London as a whole does not fall until June 13. And in Brent, north London, it’s as late as August 11. But in Copeland, north west England, it was back on February 24.

Andy Bickers, mortgages director at Halifax, said: ‘The north-south divide remains when it comes to mortgage freedom day.’

The regional list: Northern Ireland – March 10; Scotland – March 15; Wales – April 1; England – May 9; North East England – March 17; Yorkshire and the Humber – March 25; North West – March 26; East Midlands – April 9; West Midlands – April 16; East Anglia – April 14; South West England, May 4; South East England – May 27; London – June 13