Desperate Scots are flocking to an advice website for information on their mortgage payments during the cost of living crisis. Citizens Advice Scotland said there had been a 223 per cent increase in use of their mortgage calculator to work out monthly bills.
Rising interest rates are putting massive pressure on family budgets already battered by high inflation and stagnant wages. Householders on variable rates have seen their payments shoot up due to a string of Bank of England base rate increases.
Around 1.8million fixed-rate mortgage deals across the UK are scheduled to end in 2023, which experts predict will see bills going up by thousands of pounds. Average two and five-year fixed-rate mortgages breached 6 per cent in the autumn - a huge increase compared to a year ago.
Someone taking out a £200,000 mortgage in December this year could typically face paying around £1,269 per month on a two-year fixed-rate, compared with around £881 per month this time last year. According to CAS, there has been record demand for their online calculator over the past two months.
The 223 per cent rise was between October and November and the year-on-year increase for last month stands at 1,530 per cent. Use of an advice page around applying for a Shared Mortgage Interest loan from the DWP is up 108 per cent from November 2021.
CAS Social Justice Spokesperson David Hilferty said: “The cost of living crisis has seen the Bank of England hike interest rates to try and cool the economy – and that has led to lots of people on variable rate mortgages facing higher monthly payments, meanwhile lots of people with fixed rate deals that will expire in the next year are understandably concerned about how much more they could pay and trying to budget for different payments.
“On that basis we are seeing record level of demand for our mortgage calculator tool, and that follows a steady increase in demand for advice from people who can’t afford to pay their mortgage. Adding higher energy bills and high inflation to this means a lot of people could be facing really hard decisions in the New Year, and more action from policymakers would be welcome."
Labour MSP Daniel Johnson said: “This goes to show the massive impact that the cost of living crisis is having on family finances. Across the country, Scots are struggling to make ends meet.
“With inflation spiralling higher and the cost of the weekly shop soaring, all efforts to support households must be considered. Scots shouldn’t have to pay the price of Tory economic chaos - only Labour will deliver the change we need to get our economy back on track.”
Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said: "Soaring demand for online support with mortgage payments shows that homeowners are paying the price for the Conservative Government crashing the economy.
“This situation is a ticking timebomb for thousands of households. Many families are set to be paying hundreds of pounds more every month, with the cost of living rising rapidly this will simply be unaffordable for many.
“It is becoming clearer by the day that families who own a home are the ones being left to pick up the tab for months of Conservative chaos. The Conservative Government needs to take action to support families who face losing their home. They need to introduce an emergency mortgage protection fund."
A UK Government spokesperson said: “We understand that this is a difficult time for millions of mortgage holders with rates rising in response to international events, including Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We are providing cost of living payments worth £900 to the eight million most vulnerable families, in addition to capping people’s energy bills this winter and next. And earlier this month the Chancellor met with the UK’s largest lenders to commit them to go further in their support of mortgage holders in financial difficulty.”
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