“Homeowners share how they’re cutting back to cope with rising mortgage costs”

“We sold our second car to cover the costs”

Jen Holden, a freelance PR consultant living in Lichfield, Staffordshire, is due to move into a new mortgage deal this month when her current contract expires.

Holden, who lives with her husband Steve and 12-year-old twins, is currently looking for mortgage deals and expects to pay an interest rate of over 4.5%. The rate on the pair’s current five-year fix is ​​3.5%, meaning their monthly repayments will likely increase by more than £300 to around £1,800.

Holden says the four-bedroom home is their forever home and the couple have no plans to move, so they’ll have to accept the higher payments and make cuts in preparation.

Holden has sold his car and the couple now have only one vehicle that they share. This saved them around £250 a month on fuel and insurance. Holden now walks or takes the bus.

Holden also plans to cancel the family gym membership, saving £150 a month, and run or do home workouts instead.

“We still have about 20 years left on the mortgage,” she said. “Our plan is to overpay where we can to pay off our mortgage sooner. We are currently going through a period of readjustment where we are making lifestyle changes to offset our rising mortgage costs. »

“I own my own business but all our costs are increasing”

Emma Taylor*, a business owner in Derby, said her monthly mortgage payments had risen by a third to nearly £1,200 in December.

For Emma and her husband, who have two children aged six and two, the higher repayments came at a time when other household bills were rising.

The couple’s childcare bill is set to rise by £65 a month from April to £800 (for three days of childcare a week) while council tax rises by £13 a month.

Meanwhile, their Sky TV bill, food and energy costs have also increased in recent months, adding a few hundred pounds to their monthly bills.

“We have opted for a two-year solution and hope that interest rates will stabilize over the coming year. We are lucky that my husband has a stable job, but I think everyone is more aware of their expenses. We won’t be able to move because my eldest is settled in school and we don’t want to change regions,” she says.

*Name has been changed