MORTGAGE MAYHEM

LONDON HOMEOWNERS FEEL PAIN OF £8,000 RISE IN REPAYMENTS A YEAR

- Jonathan Prynn and Nicholas Cecil

THE biggest mortgage crisis in more than 30 years will hit London hardest, bringing financial misery to thousands of homeowners in the capital, the Standard can reveal today. 

The huge home loans taken out by buyers to get a toehold on the property market mean they now face crippling rises in their monthly bills as fixed-rate interest deals taken out when rates were at all-time lows expire and have to be replaced. One housing expert said homeowners faced “a big shock” that will have huge implications for the property market. The warning came as:

⬤ Analysis for the Standard showed London homeowners face annual mortgage payments sky-rocketing by as much as £8,000. 

⬤ Latest figures today show average two-year fixed rates continuing their remorseless march towards six per cent.

⬤ The City was braced for the 13th interest rate rise on the trot from the Bank of England when its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets next week.

The crisis has been largely caused by the worse than expected “stickiness” of inflation which has forced the Bank to hike rates far higher than predicted to bring price rises back under control.