870,000 households face mortgage rate hike by November as Sunak in “parallel universe” on the economy

9 May 2024

EMBARGO: 22.30 Wednesday 8 May 2024

Average of 4,200 households a day are set to see their mortgages rise between now and November
A typical mortgage holder will see their payments rise by £240 a month
Lib Dems warn that Rishi Sunak faces a “reckoning at the ballot box” with mortgage holders in the Blue Wall and London among the hardest hit

868,000 households will face a mortgage increase between now and a potential November election, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has found.

This amounts to an average of 4,193 households a day being hit with higher mortgage rates. It comes ahead of the Bank of England’s expected decision to keep interest rates at their current levels of 5.25% today (9th May). A typical mortgage holder will see their payments rise by £240 a month.

The Lib Dem commissioned analysis by the House of Commons Library, based on data from the Financial Conduct Authority, found that households will face an increase to their mortgages between May and November.

The Lib Dems said it shows Rishi Sunak’s claim that his economic plan is working shows he is living in a “parallel universe,” at a time families are saddled with hundreds of pounds a month more on their mortgage.

The data shows the South East, London, and the West Country, all areas where Conservative MPs are under serious threat from the Liberal Democrats and have suffered major losses at the local elections, are set to be the worst hit regions for mortgage increases prior to a potential November election.

In London, 104,000 mortgages will be hiked between now and November, in the South East it will be 86,000, and in the South West 103,000 households will see their mortgages rise.

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Sarah Olney MP said:

“This Conservative government crashed the economy and now they are condemning hard-working households to a mortgage nightmare.

“Rishi Sunak’s claim that the government’s plan is working shows he is living in a parallel universe, as every day thousands of families are seeing their mortgage go up by eye-watering amounts.

“Just last week, voters across the blue wall sent a message to the Conservatives at the local elections that they are fed up with being taken for granted, yet the Prime Minister is choosing to ignore them.

“Rather than clinging on in Downing Street, it is time for Rishi Sunak to face the music and allow the voters to deliver their verdict on his out-of-touch government by calling a General Election now."

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

House of Commons Library research can be found here.

How much more will households be paying when they come off their fixed rate deals?

Monthly mortgage repayments are projected to increase by an average of around £240 for people coming off fixed rate deals.
This is a projected increase for “the typical owner-occupier mortgagor rolling off a fixed rate between 2023 Q2 and the end of 2026”.

Source: Bank of England Financial Stability Report - December 2023.