Mortgage - will increasing payments reduce term

fifeken

My fixed rate has finished and I've just moved onto my banks standard variable rate. I know the new payment and I have rang them to get a payment figure required if I want to reduce the remaining time on my morgage from 10 years to 5.

My question is, do I have to set this up formally or can I just pay the difference every month and the mortgage will automatically be paid off after five years instead of ten?

I'm thinking this may be more convenient if it's allowed, and it works, as it means I can temporarily stop the extra repayment at any time if I need the cash for something else, understanding that if I do this the time remaining on my mortgage will increase past the desired 5 years).

Thrugelmir

Providing your lender allows overpayments. Then this is a better option than committing to a shorter term. As allows complete flexibility.