More than half of homeowners are worried about rising mortgage costs – as the country braces for the latest Bank of England base rate announcement.
Fresh figures reveal a third of homeowners are worried over how they will afford their monthly mortgage payment if rates rise, while 37% said it would put strain on other areas of their life including bills and expenses.
All eyes are on the Bank of England ahead of today’s announcement, with rates expected to rise for the 13th consecutive time.
It would pile more misery on homeowners after mortgage rates hit almost 6% for a two-year fixed deal last week, while the number of available products dropped again.
Now, a new survey has revealed 56% of homeowners are concerned over the prospect of rising mortgage costs ahead of this week’s announcement, with 21% experiencing increased financial stress and anxiety.
The survey of more than 1,000 homeowners with a mortgage also revealed 6% of homeowners have already reconsidered or delayed plans to move due to rising costs, while more than half questioned (59%) had already seen their mortgage increase since the first rate hike in December 2021.
However, 78% of those surveyed felt they would be prepared to deal with an increase in the cost of their monthly mortgage. The survey also revealed almost a fifth (18%) of people were not familiar with how the base rate may impact the cost of their monthly mortgage repayments. Some two thirds of people (61%) wanted to see more help for homeowners from government of financial institutions to deal with the increased cost of borrowing.
Jonathan Samuels, CEO of Octane Capital, which carried out the survey, said: “All eyes will be on the Bank of England again this week and homeowners and buyers across the nation will be hoping it’s not a case of unlucky number 13 when it comes to a potential increase to interest rates.
“For those who face the potential of higher monthly mortgage repayments it’s understandably a worry and many existing homeowners have already seen their household finances stretched over the last 18 months due to increasing mortgage rates.”
