The monthly cost of mortgages has increased for the majority of UK homeowners by hundreds of pounds, with 30% struggling to cover the higher cost of borrowing, according to analysis by Barrows and Forrester.
The company surveyed 2,304 current homeowners with a mortgage, finding that 57% have seen the monthly cost of their mortgage increase since interest rates first started to rise in December 2021.
For most homeowners, the increase has only been marginal, with 54% stating that it had increased by less than £100 a month. However, 28% have seen an increase of between £100 and £250 per month, while 18% have been hit with an increase of over £250 per month.
Meanwhile, 30% of respondents stated that they are now struggling to cover the increased cost of their mortgage. Despite this, only one in 10 stated that they were considering selling their home due to the higher cost of their monthly mortgage repayments. However, 30% again stated that they were concerned that the value of their home may have reduced in the current market.
James Forrester, the managing director of Barrows and Forrester, said, “The good news is that the market has stood strong in the face of recent mortgage market turbulence, and so while the cost of borrowing may have climbed, house prices haven’t fallen drastically as many predicted.
“There’s hope that we may have also seen the end to upward interest rate growth, and so things should start to improve over the year ahead.”
