Martin Lewis put out a direct message for the government during his appearance on Good Morning Britain on Monday (October 10). The finance guru, who founded the MoneySavingExpert website, appeared alongside host Susanna Reid to offer his advice on a special cost of living episode of the ITV news programme.
Martin answered several questions from viewers who are becoming increasingly concerned about rising costs in their everyday lives. The majority of questions asked were focused around mortgages as homeowners fear their mortgage repayments will become even more unaffordable if interest rates rise as predicted.
After the mini budget was announced on September 23, it was warned that the Bank of England could raise interest rates to as high as six percent to help bring down inflation. Mortgage lenders have since been wiping deals off the market leaving many homeowners and first-time buyers left in a state of panic.
READ MORE:
During his appearance on Good Morning Britain, one viewer asked Martin: "Is it better to get a short-term or a long-term fixed mortgage?" to which he responded: "You have to look at what is internally better for you. The more you value certainty, the more important that is to you, the more you should be biased towards fixing."
Another concerned viewer seeking the expert's advice asked: "My fixed-rate mortgage ends in January, when should I look for a new deal?." Martin replied: "I would be speaking to a mortgage broker right now."
After taking many questions from worried homeowners, the MoneySavingExpert founder then issued a 'serious' plea to the government.
Martin said: "Look at the banks, with the extra money they are making by putting mortgages up and not putting savings rates up of much stronger forbearance measures for people who cannot pay.
"Now, if they can do that by Christmas, by Christmas it needs to be done, then we probably won't need a bailout next spring if interest rates go up as predicted.
"But if they don't get their skates on and do it quickly then we may be in the position where the only way to sort this out, as we ended up with energy where the warnings weren't heeded in time, is that we're going to have to start throwing money. There is time."
Martin then looked directly at the camera and said: "This is proper serious. If you're watching: regulator, Bank of England, government you need a mortgage emergency plan now or there's a ticking time bomb, that's my opinion."
Sign up to our free weekly property newsletter by clicking here
READ NEXT:
