Highland MP renews calls for Chancellor to act to help homeowners facing more mortgage hikes as Bank of England raises interest rates.
Interest rates increase to 5%, the highest in 15 years, as inflation remains stagnant at 8.7% as households struggle with rising costs.
1.3 million households across the UK face fixed mortgage rate renewal at the end of this year, with a further 1.4 million on tracker rates or standard variable rates mortgages.
Many homeowners are seeing disposable income slashed or eradicated, with many predicted to fall into unmanageable debt.
Only the UK Government has the financial levers at their disposal to stop a catastrophe.
Comments by Drew Hendry MP:
“Today’s announcement will be precisely the news that local homeowners on expiring fixed-rate mortgages and variable-rate mortgages did not want to hear.
“The interest rate rises are another hammer blow to their already pushed budgets.
“Many homeowners and first-time buyers will see their disposable income slashed or eradicated, with many predicted to fall into unmanageable debt.
“Renters also risk having increased mortgage rates passed onto them by landlords.
“That the Chancellor expects folk to be able to fork out an extra £465 a month, in the middle of a Cost-of-Living Crisis of this government’s making, shows just how little he and the Prime Minister understand about the cost-of-living crisis they’ve created for households.
“I watched the Prime Minister’s speech earlier today with the, albeit faint, hope that he would announce new measures to shield families from these extra pressures.
“Instead, we got empty words.
“People cannot ride it out; they have no squeeze left to give.
“The Scottish Government is doing what it can to mitigate the effects on the hardest-pushed families with Child Support Payments and other measures, but only the UK Government has the financial levers at their disposal to stop a catastrophe.
“The Chancellor and the Prime Minister need to heed our calls to put in place measures to protect families from losing their homes and prevent increasing hardship across our communities.”
