Fixed mortgage ends 2023 support thread

[Echo40]

Just wondering anyone else same boat?

Our fixed 5 year mortgage ends Dec 2023 currently Halifax fixed at 2.44%.

Freinds daughter trying get mortgage currently and she's been offered 6% as rates always above base rate.

Bank of England predict least 2 more rate rises in spring go try and control inflation they say as inflation the enemy.

Looked at recent annual statement.
Worked out what would be left to pay I dec.
Used Martin Lewis mortgage repayment calculator.
Can't extend term due to age.
Want to stay on repayment mortgage.
House definitely worth more than we paid and we put down 22.5% 54k so think we should have least 100k equity so no idea of the loan to value who get us a good rate.
I think we can start shopping around 6months before and think read Lloyd's would honour quote they could give us in July.
I put in worst case interest rate of 7%, as was trying to stress test us and see how much Increase we could be looking at.
Its around £300 per month at 7% as its so far away still no idea I reckon 6% very possible.

But add in Increase in energy and food which continues to rise could be looking at finding a extra £500 per month how is that viable for so many?

Not sure what to do trying not to panic it's beyond my control.
I'm focusing on what is in our control as follows and wondering what everyone else is thinking 🤔 or doing.

We wanted to extend as have 4 kids 3 bed house but scrapped that idea and we moving our bedroom into front lounge as have small lounge at back and divided one bedroom into 2 sides this way 17 year old gets own bigger room.
Son gets small box room and 2 middle girls can share but be divided compromise is much smaller lounge.

Added a 2nd income its minimum wage but every little helps.

Not through choice new boiler as old one condemned hoping long term that save us a little money and placed £2700 on 0% credit as paid 1k cash from savings.

Considering costs and savings of Woodburner in dining room as back of house open plan as worry about energy next winter without any government help at the moment we getting 67 month and cap is £2500. Cap goes up to 3k April and based on current dd we already exceeding 3k a year if stayed same for 12months.
We really need to replace 1 single glazed window and door this summer big expense but offsetting expenditure v energy bills.

Debt we have some credit card debt not because of luxuries just Increase in living costs mostly car related as have very little savings.
Transfered bulk of it to 0% deal think 15 months left on that need to check.
Aim is with credit card 2 which we do pay interest on is clear by summer.
Dont want to go into mortgage with large amounts debt or as they say high levels of gearing.
Credit score fairly good.

Other steps want to achieve before winter is

Save up 1 k emergency fund
Clear overdrafts and use them as emergency not credit card as short term help not live in them every month.

Have a xmas savings fund and buy majority presents early.
Already brought cards and other items cheap in sales.
This should take pressure off in December when I'm stressed about new mortgage.

As above try and find ways save money on energy to help us cope next winter maybe build up a credit over summer months give us a cushion.
Thinking getting air fryer, heated clothes airer and dehumidifier to try save some money on energy.

Stock pile more long life food do tinned / dried things with long life.
No foods like cleaning and bathroom which will help lower grocery bill for 2024 as our increased mortgage payments start xmas.

If we clear debt
Try lower food and energy
Have savings

Hopefully can absord the Increase still a worry hence why forward planning now.

Wondering if very high if even worth moving maybe as well continue with current lender on variable rate.
If we officially in recession will Bank of England start to lower base rates can't see it in 2023.

Anyone else stressing or planning.
Any ideas welcome
Think Martin Lewis keeps warning government this be next big crisis as everything is going up.
Even if inflation goes down energy and food prices won't fall.
Most peoples wages not keeping up with inflation anyways.
Will even effect renters too.
I guess the housing market will drop as house opposite sold 230k during time truss came to power then buyer lost mortgage deal so back on market and now months later sold 290k.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/property/word-warning-millions-homeowners-fixed-25932216?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

uk.news.yahoo.com/million-uk-households-mortgage-crisis-155952811.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANZx-abkLVCD5EFxvgng5NPtX8Qq2XltIoDkkVuowETEvGWU66PWd_TGqRANmEA7ZUHawSNUb5BamGmVaquZnrUjOUSMQoSqvaahvsuV2Zyt20w6XAf0EM-yBWjngmvhje7K5KiagW_Q7tJoXESE-CRkpQDg6kbuIOhC3eqiFpkr

amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/08/mortgage-payers-face-squeeze-in-2023-after-uk-interest-rate-rises

www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1719063/bank-of-england-inflation-uk-economy-interest-rates/amp

Although I think they will probably get a bit lower at some point, I still think they will be "high" compared to the 1-3% rates we have been used to over the last while.

I was looking at a 2 year fix for 5.69% on Friday (BTL) through a broker. Yesterday I was told it was pulled and the best I can now get is 6.04%

I wouldn't hang about if I were you. An offer in your hand is something you can pull out of with no penalty

I have contacted a few brokers who I should get to speak to this week but in the meantime I have found some better rates just by using moneysavingexpert. Some providers I'd never heard of though. I feel I'd rather stick with well known names. Is that silly?

I agree with this.

I was too late: the 6.04% has gone and the best I can get is 6.45%
Stay safe out there people 😬

Just done our remortgage, was 1.86% and in Nov will be 4.99% same lender RBS.

Not sure where the extra £250 a month is going to come from yet 😔 we are on UC so can't get housing element etc.

If you need to do it soon, I'd try to do it now. We remortgaged at the beginning of May and got 4.19%, that same mortgage is now £130 per month more, if you're under a time pressure, don't hang about.

2 year gilt is way above the Truss maximum now.

10 year is just about to exceed it.

Will average 2 year mortgage rates reach 8% ?

So are people saying I should just go through moneysavingexpert as it is better than my current provider can offer and I can't hang about until my next day off work, Friday, to hear back from brokers? I could get it all done online tonight.

I'd be tempted to look at 3 and 5 year fixes tbh. This is going to get messy

When is your current deal actually up?

I would book the cheapest deal you can currently find so long as you can cancel it without charges before you actually need to remortgage.

We remortgaged last year and the deal I found online was 1% cheaper than two mortgage brokers we also tried. I still think the broker is worth going to in case they find something better though.

Thanks. Our fixed term is up on 31st Dec 23.

Interesting. I had convinced myself that I definitely didn't want to lock into a high rate for any longer than necessary.

I think the difficult thing is knowing what "a high rate" actually is. A few months ago people were debating whether to fix at 3 or 4%, some would have viewed them as "high" rates at the time.

Most banks' SVRs are between 8 and 9% now 😬

Remember the good old days when a SVR was about 4%? This is going to be painful for a lot of people

We need to borrow a bit more for building works. We have a 5 year fix until April 2027 at 1.29 which is amazing but now kicking ourselves for not borrowing more at the time (didn’t think we needed to back then but of course building costs have spiralled). New portion of borrowing at 5.44% (we got this deal about 3 weeks ago). Painful.

I know we do essentially have a choice not to do the works but they do really need to be done as house not really been touched in 30 years

I'm here to join the pain.

Looking at a 5.85% offset via broker and mortgage payments will increase £300pm🤮. Long term with the savings element it works out as 4.1% but short term with childcare fees of £600pm and a part time salary, not my favourite.

Absolutely miserable as my current rate is 1.9%

NatMoz almost identical to us except I don't understand what you mean by offset and savings element.

How can it work out as 4.1%?

Well the offset account will have £43k of our savings in. Our mortgage is about £150k but with the offset we pay interest on £107k rather than £150k (150-43), meaning the rate works out closer to 4%.

Offsets are good if you have spare savings of around 20-25% of the mortgage.

For us it's our roof falling down fund 🤣

I keep getting flyers through the door from local estate agents saying 'we've just x property in your area. Similar properties are urgently needed'.

It surprises me because I would have expected buyer activity to have dropped off by now, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

Thank you for explaining. I looked it up. No good for us as we don't have much savings!
So that is an offer secured today at 5.84%! Crazy. But at least we have a worst case scenario now. We'd have to start paying that for 2 years from January if nothing better comes along. I found better online than any mortgage broker offered, so I set it up direct. Good luck everyone.

Sorry - posted on wrong thread!

You can get a small amount, but it’s a loan.

I've just fixed for 5 years at 5.69% with Natwest. It's a product transfer for when my current 1.9% ends in Dec 2023.

Paying £190 a month. Didn't have the money to get out of my fixed rate last year and probably wouldn't have passed the affordability.