UK interest rate rise: how will it affect you?
The Bank of England has yet again hiked interest rates, in the 12th consecutive rise since December 2021. This time the increase is 0.25 percentage points – taking the base rate to 4.5%. So what does that mean for your finances?
Thursday’s move is yet more bad news for the 2.2 million people on a variable rate mortgage. Roughly half are either on a base rate tracker or discounted-rate deal, with the remaining 50% or so on their lender’s standard variable rate (SVR).
A household with a tracker mortgage currently at 5.25% will see their pay rate rise to 5.5%. These deals directly follow the base rate. This means their monthly payments will rise by £21 a month, assuming they have a £150,000 repayment mortgage with 20 years remaining. Their monthly payments rise from £1,011 to £1,032.
The increase may not sound much, but as recently as last June that same household would have been paying £776 a month, meaning their payments have risen by a third in just under a year – equivalent to a £3,000 annual increase.
A household with a £500,000 tracker mortgage with 20 years to go will see their monthly payments rise by £69 to £3,439 a month as a result of the latest increase.
SVRs change at the lender’s discretion, but most will go up, though not necessarily by the full 0.25 percentage points. Some lenders may take some time to announce their plans, but householders can similarly brace themselves for higher payments.
If you are one of the 6 million-plus households with a fixed-rate mortgage, you are unaffected by the latest rise. This group of borrowers will only feel the pain when their current deal expires and they have to renew, which might be in anything between a few weeks or a few years.
And it could be about to get even more painful.
Read more on theguardian.com
