Based on an average annual mortgage repayment cost of £7,567, and an average net annual income of £25,58, Halifax calculate that those with a mortgage will today have earned enough to cover their mortgage payments for the rest of 2015.

Mortgage Freedom Day this year occurs eight days later than in last year, the result of net annual income decreasing by £15 and the average annual mortgage repayment increasing by £613 in the same period.

Borrowers in Renfrewshire enjoyed Mortgage Freedom Day on 28 February; Scottish borrowers in general were ahead of the curve, with eight of the ten earliest Mortgage Freedom Days taking place north of the border; the remaining two are in Northern Ireland, with Larne and Ballymoney (2 and 5 March respectively).

The first area of England to record Mortgage Freedom Day is Swindon, on 8 April.

“While monthly mortgage and rental costs account for the majority of many people’s household budgets, Mortgage Freedom Day provides a different perspective on how much we spend on these costs over the course of a year,” says Craig McKinlay, Halifax mortgage director. “Our research shows that today, if people had put everything they’d earned since the start of the year towards their mortgage, the average homeowner would be mortgage free for the remainder of the year.”