A man who has lived in Walthamstow all his life has written a book on how he paid off his mortgage in just seven years.

Orall Cornelius, of Rushbrook Crescent, has published his e-book ‘Murder Your Mortgage in 7 Years’ with Amazon.

The 45-year-old, who grew up in Walthamstow Village, attended Henry Maynard Junior School, Sir George Monoux and Waltham Forest College.

He now lives with his wife Carla, 42, and two children aged 9 and 11.

After paying off his mortgage within seven years, Mr Cornelius said he wrote the book to show people how it could be done.

He said: “I’ve always thought that it shouldn’t be an achievement unique to me.

“Why doesn’t everyone do it?

“Ultimately it just made sense.

“I had a mortgage that if I let run for the full 25-year term I would have ended up paying the bank double what they lent me and, as you know, three-bed houses in Walthamstow are not cheap.

“I also wanted security and freedom in an economic downturn.”

Since he became free of his mortgage earlier this year, Mr Cornelius has quit his job in the energy industry and started studying a Masters in Psychology.

In his spare time he has also completed a documentary on the life of Melvyn Bragg for YouTube.

This book was written in about a month.

In it, he says there are two key elements to paying off a mortgage quickly, choosing a cheap tracker mortgage to allow for unlimited overpayments, and reining in the spending.

He said: “For me it was like a race against time, each day with a mortgage meant extra mortgage interest, which meant a longer time to the finish.

“I can’t say that it’s been easy.

“There were conflicts along the way between us when it came to spending decisions and looking back I’m sure I put Carla’s patience to the test.”

But the main thing that Mr Cornelius wants to achieve with his book is showing that significant early repayment of a mortgage is not impossible.

He said: “The key message to everyone is that, if they doubted it before, I’ve shown that it is possible.

“A mortgage doesn’t have to take a lifetime to pay off and ordinary people like me can do it.”