Mortgages

[Boss Hogg]

These are stress tested so that people can make sure they can afford repayments at a higher rate. If some borrowed less or bought a smaller a property when interest rates are low they might help themselves. A solicitor was on the radio complaining how it wasn’t fair that she could afford the £1,600 per month repayment 1 year ago but not the £3,200 per month now if it was on a new deal. No sympathy as she shouldn’t have borrowed so much or bought too large / high a value property. Im amazed so many people thought 1% interest rates would continue forever.

[Quickenthetempo]

I'm made up that the bank is getting lots more profit and people are losing their homes as well.

Brilliant isn't it.

[ksrclaret]

“No sympathy”

Didn’t bother reading on after that comment.

[Mrpotatohead]

These are stress tested so that people can make sure they can afford repayments at a higher rate. If some borrowed less or bought a smaller a property when interest rates are low they might help themselves. A solicitor was on the radio complaining how it wasn’t fair that she could afford the £1,600 per month repayment 1 year ago but not the £3,200 per month now if it was on a new deal. No sympathy as she shouldn’t have borrowed so much or bought too large / high a value property. Im amazed so many people thought 1% interest rates would continue forever.

No sympathy - let me guess, you bought your first house when average prices were about 28k, roughly 3.5 or 4 times the average salary?

If you want to go and do the research as to what the average house price is now compared to the average salary, maybe it will open your eyes a little as to why people now have to borrow so much.

Hey, I'm glad you're fine though.

[Foshiznik]

Im amazed so many people thought 1% interest rates would continue forever.

No one in a million years expected that but no one believed it would multiply at a rate unseen before now and in such quick time.

I'm sure it's very easy to throw stones from your glass house you paid 5% of the current value for to have such little empathy.

[Lowbankclaret]

The problem for most people is perception.
Interest rates have been low and stable for so long the perception is they are unlikely to go up much.

Us old folk remember the old days.
When I bought my first house mortgage rates were 16.4%.
My first fixed rate was 11. Something for 5 years.

When it ended rates were below 8%.

Lots of people had their houses repossessed . It’s not new , it’s how governments run our economy.

I still disagree with interest rates being used to try to control inflation, it does not appear to work. Plus this inflation has been caused by issues not related to people spending more money.
I don’t profess to be any kind of expert on how to run an economy.

[Foshiznik]

The problem for most people is perception.
Interest rates have been low and stable for so long the perception is they are unlikely to go up much.

Us old folk remember the old days.
When I bought my first house mortgage rates were 16.4%.
My first fixed rate was 11. Something for 5 years.

When it ended rates were below 8%.

Lots of people had their houses repossessed . It’s not new , it’s how governments run our economy.

I still disagree with interest rates being used to try to control inflation, it does not appear to work. Plus this inflation has been caused by issues not related to people spending more money.
I don’t profess to be any kind of expert on how to run an economy.

I do understand that times have been hard in a similar way when it comes to property, but alot of people seem to fail to realise that it's one thing to go from 1/2% to 6% but to do it in less than 2 years is an understated aspect.

[JohnMcGreal]

These are stress tested so that people can make sure they can afford repayments at a higher rate. If some borrowed less or bought a smaller a property when interest rates are low they might help themselves. A solicitor was on the radio complaining how it wasn’t fair that she could afford the £1,600 per month repayment 1 year ago but not the £3,200 per month now if it was on a new deal. No sympathy as she shouldn’t have borrowed so much or bought too large / high a value property. Im amazed so many people thought 1% interest rates would continue forever.

I imagine that inflation everywhere else such as energy bills, food, fuel etc has eaten into the slack that was available in household budgets when those 'stress-tests' were carried out.

[Rileybobs]

These are stress tested so that people can make sure they can afford repayments at a higher rate. If some borrowed less or bought a smaller a property when interest rates are low they might help themselves. A solicitor was on the radio complaining how it wasn’t fair that she could afford the £1,600 per month repayment 1 year ago but not the £3,200 per month now if it was on a new deal. No sympathy as she shouldn’t have borrowed so much or bought too large / high a value property. Im amazed so many people thought 1% interest rates would continue forever.

You have no sympathy that someone’s mortgage repayment has doubled in the space of a year? Doesn’t exactly paint you in a particularly good light.

[NewClaret]

For me the bigger picture here is that house prices have become completely unrealistic and unaffordable - in the main due to the availability of low cost credit.

My house has gone up 250% in value from when I bought it 16 years ago. It’s crazy.

As two other examples, I saw two that have been bought & renovated near me recently. Both bought for £500k and both now back on the market for £800k and, I kid you not, £1.5m! They’ve been done up and had money spent on them, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just crazy.

I couldn’t afford my house now if I were starting out and it really worries me that my kids will struggle to get on the housing ladder.

I feel very sorry for anyone trapped in negative equity or with debilitating increases in mortgage rates… but I shan’t be at all sorry if it results in house prices falling back to more affordable levels and in line with salaries.

[Boss Hogg]

I care about people on the breadline who can’t afford a modest property very much and I do have a mortgage ( but I factored in rate rises so bought a lower value one). I also care about food and every prices affecting the less well off. I’m talking about some people clearly over committing ( such as the solicitor in the original post who you would think read the full illustration) on a property that is far grander than their means and expects someone else to bail them out This is probably not the majority.

[Big Vinny K]

Same old thread
Same old comments

It’s amazing how many people got mortgages when base rate was around 15% given how little time they spent at that rate. It’s like the Orient game !

Even for those that did the amounts people were borrowing 30 plus years ago were a fraction of the loan to property value they do now.

Interest rates in the last decade have been consistently low - mortgage regulation and proving the ability to repay has never been more regulated than the last few years.

But nobody factored in a pandemic and a war - if these 2 rate event were factored into how banks lent money or people borrowed then nobody would ever be buying houses.

[Boss Hogg]

They’d be buying more modest ones which is the point.

[Rileybobs]

They’d be buying more modest ones which is the point.

How do you know the solicitor’s house isn’t modest?

[JohnMcGreal]

For me the bigger picture here is that house prices have become completely unrealistic and unaffordable - in the main due to the availability of low cost credit.

My house has gone up 250% in value from when I bought it 16 years ago. It’s crazy.

As two other examples, I saw two that have been bought & renovated near me recently. Both bought for £500k and both now back on the market for £800k and, I kid you not, £1.5m! They’ve been done up and had money spent on them, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just crazy.

I couldn’t afford my house now if I were starting out and it really worries me that my kids will struggle to get on the housing ladder.

I feel very sorry for anyone trapped in negative equity or with debilitating increases in mortgage rates… but I shan’t be at all sorry if it results in house prices falling back to more affordable levels and in line with salaries.

Exactly. It's not necessarily the interest rates that are the problem, they were always going to rise to this sort of level. It's the size of the mortgages that people have had to take out to buy a home.

House prices have been inflated, deliberately, over a number of years. It was never sustainable and it's going to be a very painful correction. A lot of people are going to be in an awful position and they have my sympathy.

[Boss Hogg]

It may cause a flood of properties of a certain type / value back on the market. If interest rates go beyond the stress test level shown in an applicant’s illustration then maybe they should be allowed to switch to interest only.

[Cooclaret]

I care about people on the breadline who can’t afford a modest property very much and I do have a mortgage ( but I factored in rate rises so bought a lower value one). I also care about food and every prices affecting the less well off. I’m talking about some people clearly over committing ( such as the solicitor in the original post who you would think read the full illustration) on a property that is far grander than their means and expects someone else to bail them out This is probably not the majority.

A solicitor, who might well have to live in a housing market/area against their wishes as it serves their career and career progression.

Imagine you work in an industry and they insist that you work within 5 miles of the factory, then house prices rise 800%. What do you do? Give up your career?

There’s a lot of I statements in there, try a few we. Makes me think you live alone and independently.

[RVclaret]

I’m currently looking for my first home. It’s certainly a buyers market out right there now so I’m viewing as many properties as possible and offering lower than listed for. I’ve got a 4.98% fixed 5 year agreement in principle. While I might be paying a bit more for the next 5 years, I’m betting that rates will be lower by then as we aren’t far off the peak rate now.

An advantage of buying now (for me) is paying £0 stamp duty (would otherwise by >£8,000) thanks to a government initiative for first time buyers. I’m also buying in what I believe to be an up and coming area of London so hoping it won’t lose value (probably gain tbh). So basically I’m not buying all the doom and gloom (albeit I can see how it would be more painful for the example given in the op).

[Cirrus_Minor]

The incredibly low interest rates has fueled ridiculously high house prices. It has been either go for the house, as high as the price is, or pay high rents instead.i feel sorry anyone now just trying to get a roof over their heads that they can afford.

I bought my first house in March 1979 and shortly after a Thatcher government was elected and my interest rates went up to 18 percent, yes 18 percent. I dread to think what would have happened then if the house prices were as equivalently as high at that time.

[Quickenthetempo]

It's like a cocaine dealers tactics. Giving a free line out in a pub knowing said victim will buy 200 quids worth in the night.

Get them hooked on 2% mortgages and then bang it up like wildfire.

[davideyresleftear]

Were you the person who started a thread just to say how little sympathy you have for teachers wanting a pay rise? Sorry if it wasn’t you, but this isn’t Boss Hogg’s ‘People I have No Sympathy For’ blog.

[clarethomer]

The OP is correct in terms of that mortgage lenders will review the financials of an applicant and run their affordability against a higher rate.

This can only be done based at the point of the application though and this is worth remembering. If the applicants financial situation changes after this point - either through their own doing (increasing debt and expenditure) or through no fault of their own (cost of living and prices going up, reduction in income/job loss etc) it can all impact the affordability and to a degree can and will impact on the mortgage rates increasing at a time of this.

It is not the lenders fault in that respect - just as it wasn't the applicants fault they couldn't foresee the changes in the future. The principle of testing at a higher rate is to protect the customer and lender against this. However it's likely it would have been a lot worse if they hadn't done this stress testing.

So it's not a perfect system. It's also not a point in which you can apportion blame clearly based on limited facts, or information.

The next point about profiteering is one that is an easy one for the headlines and to wind people up and get clicks/shares going. To understand what is driving the pricing of products isn't someone in a bank somewhere rubbing their hands at how they can screw over the man on the street.

It is about how the price products. Fixed rates are often hedged to minimise risk as an example so they have to make calls on the future price of interest rates and all of this goes into the pricing.

Some of the pricing can be to subdue lending or attract more lending and this is done to manage risk exposure rather than profit. As an example - they may offer better rates to those with more equity in their properties and increase rates on new applications for those with less.

It's a crazy time and getting the headlines because of inflation not coming down and the markets/banks etc are trying to predict the future.

[Big Vinny K]

It's like a cocaine dealers tactics. Giving a free line out in a pub knowing said victim will buy 200 quids worth in the night.

Get them hooked on 2% mortgages and then bang it up like wildfire.

Not really.
It’s all linked to base rate.
That moves and fixed rates move.
Fundamentally a bank makes its money on the margin it lends money above base rate and the margin it takes below base rate on its deposits and savings. I know it’s more complex than that these days with all the non interest income banks earn through other products but basically that’s how a traditional bank makes money….the differential or margin between the rate it applies to mortgages, loans, savings etc and base rate.

What higher rates give the banks is the ability to take a bigger margin. When base rate was 1% and lower for example they have less to play with.

Mortgage rates are running so high now due to a combination of risk appetite, reduced products in the market and the increase in base rate that is being forecast in the next 18 months or so (oh and greed from the banks too !!)

[clarethomer]

Not really.
It’s all linked to base rate.
That moves and fixed rates move.
Fundamentally a bank makes its money on the margin it lends money above base rate and the margin it takes below base rate on its deposits and savings. I know it’s more complex than that these days with all the non interest income banks earn through other products but basically that’s how a traditional bank makes money….the differential or margin between the rate it applies to mortgages, loans, savings etc and base rate.

What higher rates give the banks is the ability to take a bigger margin. When base rate was 1% and lower for example they have less to play with.

Mortgage rates are running so high now due to a combination of risk appetite, reduced products in the market and the increase in base rate that is being forecast in the next 18 months or so (oh and greed from the banks too !!)

Just to correct a few inaccuracies here...

Not all mortgage rates are linked to base rate - in fact the way fixed rates are priced it definitely is not against base rate.

The building society model is more restricted where then can borrow money from to lend out so your point of savings v mortgages has some truth in that model but the profit is not as simple as the difference between the 2.

Higher rates do make it easier to generate profit, that is something I agree with but again it's not linked to base rate. They are based on SONIA swap rates. You can see below the rates on different terms of borrowing and how that compared to 12 months ago.

Current 15 Jun 2022
1 Year 5.413% 2.465%
2 Year 5.378% 2.826%
3 Year 5.171% 2.818%
5 Year 4.764% 2.708%

You can see from the above that the 5 year is lower than the 1 year which would indicate that the expectation is rates will come down again in the next 5 years and if you were to look at a 2 year fixed mortgage v a 5 year one, you will find the 5 year one should be priced at a slightly lower interest rate also.

Likewise with savings - once upon a time, your 5 year fixed would have a larger premium for locking that away but its possible to get a higher rate on a 1year fixed rate savings bond than the 5 year best rate.

Again this is just indicative of the market conditions.

To try and pretend that pricing is being done to profiteer is easy to argue and grab headlines but if you have any understanding of pricing products and the impacts this has on balance sheets/risk management - you can see that what is being done is not driven by greed.

[Big Vinny K]

Just to correct a few inaccuracies here...

Not all mortgage rates are linked to base rate - in fact the way fixed rates are priced it definitely is not against base rate.

The building society model is more restricted where then can borrow money from to lend out so your point of savings v mortgages has some truth in that model but the profit is not as simple as the difference between the 2.

Higher rates do make it easier to generate profit, that is something I agree with but again it's not linked to base rate. They are based on SONIA swap rates. You can see below the rates on different terms of borrowing and how that compared to 12 months ago.

Current 15 Jun 2022
1 Year 5.413% 2.465%
2 Year 5.378% 2.826%
3 Year 5.171% 2.818%
5 Year 4.764% 2.708%

You can see from the above that the 5 year is lower than the 1 year which would indicate that the expectation is rates will come down again in the next 5 years and if you were to look at a 2 year fixed mortgage v a 5 year one, you will find the 5 year one should be priced at a slightly lower interest rate also.

Likewise with savings - once upon a time, your 5 year fixed would have a larger premium for locking that away but its possible to get a higher rate on a 1year fixed rate savings bond than the 5 year best rate.

Again this is just indicative of the market conditions.

To try and pretend that pricing is being done to profiteer is easy to argue and grab headlines but if you have any understanding of pricing products and the impacts this has on balance sheets/risk management - you can see that what is being done is not driven by greed.

Didn’t really want to get into a technical LIBOR / SONIA discussion as was just trying to respond to a post which intimated banks entice people in with a low fixed rates then screw them when these expire. As you know LIBOR and now SONIA both move in line with Bank of England base rate in terms of directionally rather than the actual rates. The general public recognise base rate as a term rather than what the banks use internally / externally.

I worked in the Treasury department for a major bank for a while and know it’s a lot more complicated than the explanation I gave !!

Now on the board of a credit union and it’s pleasing to see that sector works very much in the simple way I described !!

[GodIsADeeJay81]

No sympathy - let me guess, you bought your first house when average prices were about 28k, roughly 3.5 or 4 times the average salary?

If you want to go and do the research as to what the average house price is now compared to the average salary, maybe it will open your eyes a little as to why people now have to borrow so much.

Hey, I'm glad you're fine though.

Average wage is about £28k

Average house price £300k

It's absolutely ridiculous and something's needed doing for a long time

The issue is we don't build houses fast enough and we've got 4 million plus houses owned by private landlords.

[Rick_Muller]

I'd personally be looking into the "quango" that was help to buy scheme - whereby the new house builders could artificially inflate the housing market (which in turn affected all house sales) by using the government H2B scheme to prop up the purchasers in conjunction with the low interest rates at the time. Yes, house buyers could then "afford" more expensive houses with the scheme, but it also meant that new houses could be priced much higher than they normally would thus perpetuating the last few years of house price increases.

Who profits from this - certainly not the house owners - its the building corporations who profited from the scheme.

In my estate (average house price is about £500k) many of the buyers are young families with 30-40 year mortgages on 5 years fixed deals with the additional H2B loan over their heads - it will all come crashing down soon I'm sure and I do worry about some of them on my estate.

[Darthlaw]

Who profits from this - certainly not the house owners - its the building corporations who profited from the scheme.

Not forgetting the government making interest on the H2B deposit repayments which, after a period, effectively forced the homeowner to sell, buy another property, rinse and repeat, whilst the government made a pro rata premium on the deposit thanks to increasing house prices.

All in all, its a mess, but I still believe any ideas of a housing general price crash will be wide of the mark.

[Nori1958]

I’m currently looking for my first home. It’s certainly a buyers market out right there now so I’m viewing as many properties as possible and offering lower than listed for. I’ve got a 4.98% fixed 5 year agreement in principle. While I might be paying a bit more for the next 5 years, I’m betting that rates will be lower by then as we aren’t far off the peak rate now.

An advantage of buying now (for me) is paying £0 stamp duty (would otherwise by >£8,000) thanks to a government initiative for first time buyers. I’m also buying in what I believe to be an up and coming area of London so hoping it won’t lose value (probably gain tbh). So basically I’m not buying all the doom and gloom (albeit I can see how it would be more painful for the example given in the op).

It looks like you've factored in most eventuality, but maybe people did the same 5 yrs ago and looked what happened. As long as you can pay if the rates rise in 5yrs then all is good
I was one who paid high rates in the 80s/90s, and whatever the younger ones on here think....it was bloomin hard work...yes we went without a few holidays abroad, but nowadays that seems like the end of the world for some if they have to give up a few luxuries to pay the mortgage

[Lancasterclaret]

It may cause a flood of properties of a certain type / value back on the market. If interest rates go beyond the stress test level shown in an applicant’s illustration then maybe they should be allowed to switch to interest only.

Where do the families who lose their houses live?

[Lowbankclaret]

I do understand that times have been hard in a similar way when it comes to property, but alot of people seem to fail to realise that it's one thing to go from 1/2% to 6% but to do it in less than 2 years is an understated aspect.

Same happened back then, but not sure how quick they went up but it felt quick, one of the lads bought a house in Skipton. We were on about £180 a week and his mortgage was about £240. I seem to remember it went above £400. Luckily his wife was also working and with no kids they managed. He did start to cycle to Burnley from skipton to save money. He was a good triathlete so didn’t phase him. People started doing a lot of car sharing as well.
Put me off buying till they started coming down again.

[Lowbankclaret]

Same old thread
Same old comments

It’s amazing how many people got mortgages when base rate was around 15% given how little time they spent at that rate. It’s like the Orient game !

Even for those that did the amounts people were borrowing 30 plus years ago were a fraction of the loan to property value they do now.

Interest rates in the last decade have been consistently low - mortgage regulation and proving the ability to repay has never been more regulated than the last few years.

But nobody factored in a pandemic and a war - if these 2 rate event were factored into how banks lent money or people borrowed then nobody would ever be buying houses.

They were high for quite a long time and very volatile.

IMG_1779.png (572.04 KiB) Viewed 2673 times

[BigGaz]

I was due to start looking for somewhere new to live at some point this year.

My partner and I moved into her property so we’ve sold mine and I’ve just had quite a reasonable severance payment. The idea was to flog hers as well and get something bigger.

We’ve parked that idea for now. I’ve sold mine at the peak of its value, and whilst we may ‘lose’ a little bit on hers, I think it’s fair to say that we are only now seeing the beginning motions of the arse falling well and truly out of the property market - we’re going to wait and try to capitalise on that.

I must say in some ways it feels great that we’re poised and ready to take advantage but there is also a very horrible sour taste feeling that we’re in all likelihood going to be taking that advantage of some poor sod that’s been shafted (by poor judgement, the economy or whoever you want to blame) and is desperate to sell.

[Lowbankclaret]

Plus bear in mind, that’s interest rate, mortgage rates were always a couple of % higher.

[G0foste]

I am not sure they will be a massive property crash. Wage inflation is at a high too, not that I had the pleasure to experience that. Undoubtedly people are feeling the pinch, not not sure a property crash will happen.

[Lowbankclaret]

We are selling my Mums house currently, 3 viewings in 3 weeks . Estate agent says things are still very steady at the moment.

[aggi]

I’m currently looking for my first home. It’s certainly a buyers market out right there now so I’m viewing as many properties as possible and offering lower than listed for. I’ve got a 4.98% fixed 5 year agreement in principle. While I might be paying a bit more for the next 5 years, I’m betting that rates will be lower by then as we aren’t far off the peak rate now.

An advantage of buying now (for me) is paying £0 stamp duty (would otherwise by >£8,000) thanks to a government initiative for first time buyers. I’m also buying in what I believe to be an up and coming area of London so hoping it won’t lose value (probably gain tbh). So basically I’m not buying all the doom and gloom (albeit I can see how it would be more painful for the example given in the op).

Does London have any up and coming areas left? Prices everywhere seem crazy now.

[Lancasterclaret]

Up and coming area of London according to estate agents is probably Birmingham

[Rick_Muller]

Up and coming area of London according to estate agents is probably Birmingham

Not far wrong, I’m near MK and all the advertising for all the new builds is “less than an hour commute to London”

[Lancasterclaret]

I don't know the country deals with the fact that there is such a variation in house prices in the country

[RVclaret]

Does London have any up and coming areas left? Prices everywhere seem crazy now.

You are probably right. I’ve had to go north (Cheshunt area) so technically just outside London albeit 25 min train into Liverpool Street where I work.

[Quickenthetempo]

Keep hearing there will be help for mortgage owners and the government have denied it, which usually means it will happen.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Not far wrong, I’m near MK and all the advertising for all the new builds is “less than an hour commute to London”

HS2 (if it's ever finished) will help drive prices up too

[Lancasterclaret]

Keep hearing there will be help for mortgage owners and the government have denied it, which usually means it will happen.

Its about the only pre-election break they will be able to do so I think there is a fair chance

Of course, how they do it so that struggling households benefit but multi-mortgaged landlords do not will be the real stickler

[wbfc]

Just need to keep going ...I have no mortgage now but been tough on several occasions .Several years when we had no holidays ...

I hope everyone copes ...

[TsarBomba]

It looks like you've factored in most eventuality, but maybe people did the same 5 yrs ago and looked what happened. As long as you can pay if the rates rise in 5yrs then all is good
I was one who paid high rates in the 80s/90s, and whatever the younger ones on here think....it was bloomin hard work...yes we went without a few holidays abroad, but nowadays that seems like the end of the world for some if they have to give up a few luxuries to pay the mortgage

Your last point is out of touch with reality.

I am in the process of remortgaging now, and we’ve gone for two year discounted rate. Currently, I’m looking at a £450 increase on my monthly repayments, and I’m expecting it to go up even more in the next few months.

I haven’t been on holiday for 8 years, I have an 8 year old car and a 6 year old car, we don’t get takeaways anymore, I have a £10 phone contract, I’ve given up the gym. I eat 2 meals a day instead of 3. I’m at the point where I can’t cut back anymore.

And I work with loads of guys and gals who are in similar positions trying to scrimp and save to either get on the ladder, or just repay their mortgage.

Times are tough for a lot of people out there at the moment.

[Lancasterclaret]

I for one am shocked that one of the grumpy boomers went down *that* route

[Nori1958]

Your last point is out of touch with reality.

I am in the process of remortgaging now, and we’ve gone for two year discounted rate. Currently, I’m looking at a £450 increase on my monthly repayments, and I’m expecting it to go up even more in the next few months.

I haven’t been on holiday for 8 years, I have an 8 year old car and a 6 year old car, we don’t get takeaways anymore, I have a £10 phone contract, I’ve given up the gym. I eat 2 meals a day instead of 3. I’m at the point where I can’t cut back anymore.

And I work with loads of guys and gals who are in similar positions trying to scrimp and save to either get on the ladder, or just repay their mortgage.

Times are tough for a lot of people out there at the moment.

I said.....some.....

When I was struggling in the 80s/90s I was doing the same job as you

[Rileybobs]

It looks like you've factored in most eventuality, but maybe people did the same 5 yrs ago and looked what happened. As long as you can pay if the rates rise in 5yrs then all is good
I was one who paid high rates in the 80s/90s, and whatever the younger ones on here think....it was bloomin hard work...yes we went without a few holidays abroad, but nowadays that seems like the end of the world for some if they have to give up a few luxuries to pay the mortgage

If only they gave up those Netflix memberships and take out flat whites from Cafe Nero’s.

But it’s not just paying the mortgage that is the issue for first time buyers is it. With average house prices at £285k how many luxuries would the average person have to give up to save the £28.5k required for a deposit?

[Jakubclaret]

Your last point is out of touch with reality.

I am in the process of remortgaging now, and we’ve gone for two year discounted rate. Currently, I’m looking at a £450 increase on my monthly repayments, and I’m expecting it to go up even more in the next few months.

I haven’t been on holiday for 8 years, I have an 8 year old car and a 6 year old car, we don’t get takeaways anymore, I have a £10 phone contract, I’ve given up the gym. I eat 2 meals a day instead of 3. I’m at the point where I can’t cut back anymore.

And I work with loads of guys and gals who are in similar positions trying to scrimp and save to either get on the ladder, or just repay their mortgage.

Times are tough for a lot of people out there at the moment.

That might apply to certain people like yourself but there will be people that haven’t cut their cloth accordingly & now are in dire straits, I think some people don’t have the ability to save & manage their finances properly, penny for a pinch of sh1t the 1s that successfully get by will be the same people who had the ability to scan for problems on the horizon & act accordingly, I saw this coming a couple of years & moved 1 of my properties still on a tracker to a low fixed rate which will see me through to the end.