Business

UK mortgage bill 'would increase by £10 billion with a 1 per cent interest rate rise'

A 1 per cent rise in interest rates would add £10 billion to the UK's mortgage bill according to agents Savills
A 1 per cent rise in interest rates would add £10 billion to the UK's mortgage bill according to agents Savills A 1 per cent rise in interest rates would add £10 billion to the UK's mortgage bill according to agents Savills

A ONE per cent rise in interest rates would add around £10 billion to the UK's mortgage bill, according to analysis from property adviser Savills.

The increase would equate to adding £930 a year to the cost of servicing the average mortgage.

Borrowers on variable rate deals influenced by movements in the Bank of England base rate would be the first to feel the pain, putting the annual mortgage bill up by £4.3 billion immediately, Savills said.

The six in 10 (59 per cent) of borrowers on fixed-rate deals would feel the impact later, when their existing mortgage deals come to an end.

Of the total increase, Savills calculates that buy-to-let landlords would pay an additional £2.4 billion, with other home owners paying £7.8 billion more.

"This would bring an end to the historically low mortgage costs that have boosted housing affordability and limit the buying power of those needing a mortgage, and underscores our forecasts for more subdued house price growth over the next five years," said Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills.

Savills forecasts that average UK house price growth will stand at 14 per cent in total over the next five years.

Borrowers are bracing themselves for further possible interest hikes following the increase last year from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent.

Earlier this month, Bank of England boss Mark Carney braced borrowers for further and faster interest rate hikes, although he also stressed rises would be limited and gradual.

With the possibility of further base rate rises on the horizon, home owners looking to lock into a long-term deal to get some certainty over their repayments may also find the rates on offer have edged up.

Website Moneyfacts.co.uk reported last week that average rates on 10-year fixed-rate mortgages on the market have started to edge up from an all-time low.

Savills said the total number of outstanding mortgages has fallen by over half a million over the past 10 years, as existing home owners have cleared their mortgage debts at the same time as younger households have struggled to access the market over the past decade.

Savills based its research on Bank of England and UK Finance figures.