Mortgage bills to rise as fixed terms end

Around 116,000 households will soon see the cost of their mortgage jump, with Financial Conduct Authority data showing that their fixed-rate deals will come to an end this month. If they do not secure a new deal and move on to their lender’s standard variable rate, they could face an interest rate of 7.49% or more. Moneyfacts data shows that the average two-year fixed rate mortgage in June 2021 was 2.59%, but now stands at 5.26%. For five-year fixes, the average was 2.92% in 2018 but is now 4.97%. UK Finance figures show that more than 76,600 borrowers missed payments worth at least 2.5% of their outstanding balance by March, while 750 properties were repossessed in Q1 – 50% more than in the previous quarter. More than 1.4m people are coming to the end of fixed-rate mortgages this year. 

The Times (20/05/2023)