Mortgage payments up 15%
May 9, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
Mortgage payments across England and Wales are increasing, leaving many homeowners in a precarious situation.
New figures, published by Woolwich Mortgages, shows that mortgage payments in April of this year reached £590.
That is an increase of £78 on the figure for the same month in 2006 and signals a rise in costs of 15 per cent.
Clearly this is going to have an effect on the financial situation of many homeowners and this is compounded by the fact that household net earnings have only increased by five per cent in the same time period.
Andy Gray, head of Woolwich Mortgages, is concerned that many people will be beginning to feel the pinch, especially if further interest rate rises are introduced.
“Mortgage borrowers are really getting squeezed. With the costs of council tax, petrol, food and drink, as well as mortgages, all increasing, consumers are seeing a large amount of their earnings being diverted to essentials, putting real pressure on disposable income,” he said.
“Most commentators are suggesting that interest rates will increase further this week. However, our research shows that that the three interest rate increases over the last 12 months are already starting to have a major impact on borrowers.”
The figures released for April put mortgage payments at the highest level they have been since Woolwich began collating the data in 2002.
