My mortgage bill jumped by £600 a MONTH as 1.8million face bill shock this year
My mortgage bill jumped by £600 a MONTH as 1.8million face bill shock this year
Share:
FATHER-OF-TWO James Poulter has been forced to slash his household spending to keep up with his mortgage payments after his interest rate soared. The 37-year-old, bought his three-bedroom home in Lingfield, Surrey, in 2021 and took out a £225,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 1.8%.
![[Portrait of James Poulter.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/7bf166bc-03c1-4e1b-9504-df90e664635c.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
But when he remortgaged a year ago in April his rate more than doubled to 4.5% - adding around £600 to his monthly bills. To make sure they don't end up financially hit, the young family was forced to make cutbacks such as selling one of their two cars.
James, who works in AI, said: “Thankfully we were in a position where we could afford to make that work for us but it certainly has had a hit. “We’ve decided to go from having two cars back down to just one to save some money. “We’ve also been a lot more conscientious about going away and have not been on any big family holidays since.”.
James is not the only homeowner to be surprised by rising mortgage rates. More than 1.8 million homeowners need to remortgage this year, according to UK Finance. Many will have taken out mortgages when interest rates were low and will now need to secure a new deal at much higher rates.
As a result, their bills could soar by hundreds of pounds. James said: “I don’t think anyone assumed that the rates would suddenly basically double. “Even when you hear that rates are going up you don’t think it affects you if you are on a fixed deal until it shows up in your pocket.”.
