Australian home-owners would rather take ten years off their mortgage than off their looks according to a new survey by HSBC. The survey of 500 borrowers found that women were less interested than men in reducing their mortgages with 75 per cent putting it ahead of looking younger, while 82 per cent of men surveyed said reducing the mortgage was more important. Overall HSBC said 80 per cent of Australian borrowers would prefer to trim their mortgages than improve their appearance. Borrowers from New South Wales led the mortgage charge with 82 per cent preferring to clear their mortgage. Despite the large majority of borrowers eager to reduce their mortgage HSBC said one in five people did not know how to do it. "It's impressive that so many more people would rather be mortgage free but it's unlikely to happen if they don't take action to pay off their loan," HSBC head of mortgages Steve Martinelli said. A third of people have not reviewed their mortgage since moving to their current home with half of borrowers not making full use of all the facilities provided by their loan. Despite not using the additional facilities, 60 per cent of those surveyed thought they could get a better mortgage elsewhere. "The good news is that borrowers don't have to do much to improve the health of their home loan - get the best rate for your needs, exercise some of those features or develop some good payment habits," Mr Martinelli said. By AAP