About our UK Mortgage news
Latest news on mortgages in the UK, amid a financial crisis with rising interest rates that has caused lenders to raise mortgage repayment rates.
Mortgage lenders pulled deals due to the volatility of sterling on international currency markets and the prospect of steeply rising interest rates in 2022 and 2023. In September 2022, the Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised interest rates for the seventh consecutive time to 2.25%.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's so-called 'mini-budget' statement on 23 September 2022 triggered market uncertainty around the UK's level of borrowing, putting pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates, with potentially crippling impacts on mortgage interest rates.
British debt charities are concerned that four million mortgage borrowers in the UK will face higher rates in 2023, resulting in an average annual increase of £3,000 in their bills. This follows the Bank of England's decision to increase interest rates to 3.5% in an attempt to control inflation, which rose by 10.7% in the year to November 2022. The BoE warned that around four million UK homeowners, or half of all homeowners, will be affected by higher costs as their fixed-rate deals expire, making it harder for them to repay their mortgages. Debt charities are worried that the sharp increase in costs could make mortgage payments unaffordable for many homeowners and are urging them to seek help from their lenders.
The UK mortgage market remains under pressure in summer 2023 as interest rates continue to rise, forcing lenders to withdraw or increase their deals. This will affect millions of homeowners who are coming off their fixed-rate deals and will face higher monthly payments.