Martin Lewis has given his reaction after the Bank of England have raised interest rates for the 13th consecutive time. After a meeting with members of the Monetary Policy Committee today (June 22), there was a majority vote of 7-2 to increase the base rate to 5 percent after a 0.5 percent increase.
The Bank has hiked interest rates in the hopes of bringing inflation down, but this comes at the cost of many homeowners suffering from increased and unaffordable mortgage repayments amid the already crippling cost of living crisis.
Just days ago, the Money Saving Expert founder issued a warning that the mortgage ticking time bomb is now 'exploding'. Martin made an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (June 20) to speak to hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley about the impact of rising interest rates on homeowners.
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In a previous appearance on the ITV breakfast show, Martin told viewers that there was a "mortgage ticking time bomb”, but after recent events, he warned this is now "exploding" and that the impact of it will be a "nightmare."
The financial journalist explained that if interest rates are going to be high over three or four years, people are going to have to readjust their finances. He also said that he could not see a mortgage rescue package being brought in.
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When it comes to things like interest rates and mortgages, many homeowners to turn Martin Lewis for financial advice.
But after the Bank of England's announcement today, Martin gave a rather bleak response to the current situation.
Tweeting to his 2.2 million Twitter followers, he said: "It's very hard to know how to react to a 0.5 percent increase in rates at this time.
"Clearly we must tackle inflation, but this one trick method is causing huge pain to many on variable and coming off fixed rate mortgages. We need to at least ensure the gain is passed on to savers."
He then added: "Plus spare a thought for #mortgageprisoners who've been paying over the odds for 15 years. Many will now have totally unaffordable 9% mortgages. Help for them is desperately needed."
According to Martin's Money Saving Expert site, mortgage prisoners are "homeowners who typically took out a mortgage before the financial crash in 2008, when lending rules were more relaxed."
These people are now trapped on pricey mortgage deals unable to switch to cheaper ones, mainly because they don't pass current strict affordability tests.
MSE estimates that there could be up to 200,000 mortgage prisoners in the UK.
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