(1888PressRelease)
May 09, 2007 - According to Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, one in four Britons are already financially overstretched, while 12 per cent of homeowners face further problems as they have neglected to budget for an interest rate rise.
In all, seven million Britons will be forced to remortgage their homes come next Thursday - the day the Bank of England's monetary policy committee is set to announce at least a 0.25 per cent rate hike.
"It is alarming that people are still not budgeting for the increased mortgage repayments a further rate rise will bring. With so many saying they will be forced to remortgage if their monthly payments increase it is staggering more borrowers have not yet factored this in," Ms Cuming said.
"Even more worrying is that people who are relying on being able to remortgage if their repayments rise may not be able to afford to do so due to the early redemption charges in place on many products. These people need to review their finances and budgeting immediately."
Another option to consider for financially overstretched Britons would be to sell their properties to National Homebuyers and then rent them back. National Homebuyers is the UK's leading quick sale property company.
Director Julian King adds: "If you look at interest rate predictions, they seem to be rising more each month. We said at the beginning of the year that there is no doubt that rates will rise to six per cent by the end of the year. If Gordon Brown has his way it would be even higher and we believe that rates will rise to 7.5 per cent in the next 12-months."
