mortgage increase - just a rant

[sallycantwait]

Like many people, we knew that our mortgage would increase at the end of our brilliant fixed rate. So here we are - our mortgage has increased to a whopping £2014 per month :(

we do have options such as to increase the term etc, however we aren't going to do that. We CAN afford the higher payment but it just really eats into our disposable income, which means that our lifestyle in terms of holidays/ days out etc will need to be scaled back

I know that this is a first world problem and that I am very very lucky to own a home, so I am not trying to be dramatic. I just felt like I needed to rant a bit

Yes, very annoying-it just seems like ‘wasted’ money as it’s not going on anything new!

How much was it before?

It was £1589 before so quite a hike. Like I said, we can weather the storm but it just feels rubbish that we will have to cut back on the fun things in life. I am ever conscious that there are loads of people who would love to be on the housing ladder though, so I don't want to moan too much

Have you guys shopped around? Gone through a mortgage broker, etc?

Ours went from £1700 to £2800 this time last year. Its been a killer and despite being very well paid, with that and childcare fees we have very little to spare.

Yes, ours went up by £500, which is fine once, but £500 every single month definitely takes it's toll, we do far less now in terms of 'fun things.' Ugh.

Mine was around £2000 twenty five years ago. I think the rate was 6.5% at the time.

It doesn’t last forever.

It won't last forever.

At least you're not robbing Peter to pay Paul, there's a lot worse off people than yourself.

As a PP said, it's not forever. Over the course of a 25 year mortgage it's probably for a very short time.

The main thing is to stay on the SVR and not tie yourself down to fixed rates - at least not whilst interest rates are on the way down - easier said I know!

Urgh! I feel your pain. Our fixed rate ends in January and we are going to have almost exactly the same issue. £1600 to about £2100 based on current rates. The extra £6000 a year is our ‘winter sun’ February half term holiday off the table from 2026 ☹️ Absolutely first world problems but I’m still sad about it.

Welcome to the club, you go to work just to pay the bills, no fun, no luxuries just the standard necessities. In month 10 now and it sucks! Only 14 more months to go on this stupid high rate.

Yep - us too, ours increased by £500 to £1800 when we had to renew a few months back. We are now living hand to mouth and it is a huge struggle, even after cutting all our non-essential expenses.

Would it help to frame it as the old lower rate being really unusual and in fact you’ve been paying less for a long time and it’s now just going back to “normal”?

that’s pretty much the case with interest rates. Low fixes were always unusual and should have been thought of as a bit of a bonus and never the norm

We’re trying to work out how much to decrease pension payments by, to put that money into the mortgage to overpay to somehow get the balance down (over 300k at the mo), it’s going down so slowly (even with a low interest rate at the moment). Caught in the 60% tax trap too as partner a high earner. On paper, we have a high income but after the tax is paid, and interest comes off the mortgage payments it just seems like such a lot to still owe. However we realise how important it is to pay into the pension now to allow time to grow, and the huge tax benefits of doing this via salary sacrifice (our monthly mortgage payments will go up in a couple of years by about 400 a month too)