West Country households facing mortgage timebomb

A year on from Liz Truss’s budget the housing market has hit its worst slump since the Credit Church thanks to soaring mortgage rates seen in the past 12 months – according to Metro mayor Dan Norris.

Mortgage approvals are down by a third, house values are down five per cent and the average monthly mortgage payment is up by £220 – according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

And the situation is likely to get worse, according to Dan Norris, with data from his West of England Mayoral Authority showing a quarter of all households in the West have fixed-term mortgages concluding in the next 12 months and so face a repayment rise of nearly £2,600.

This means a further ‘mortgage bomb’ hitting the West of England region of around £67m in the next year, according to the figures.

Dan Norris, who has responsibility for regional economic development, says that households across his patch are still dealing with the “hangover” of the Truss experiment.

He said: “One year on, and households in the West of England, and across the country, are still dealing with the hangover of Truss and her so-called ‘mini-Budget’.

“Mortgage approvals down by a third since last year. 5% wiped off the value of houses in the region. Rents spiralling. Plus a mortgage bomb about to hit a quarter of all households in the West. All because the Government crashed the economy.

“This mortgage penalty has been a bitter blow for families, which is I’m calling on the PM to stand up to the factions in his party, choose the side of working people in the West of England and take the urgent steps necessary to solve this country’s growing list of problems, not least protecting homeowners through this crisis this year and next.”