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This is Money Podcast

How bad will the mortgage chaos get and will it sink house prices??

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1650 Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2022

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rocketing rates have sent the average two and five-year fixed rate mortgage through the 6 per cent barrier.

This is a level that would have been considered unthinkable a year ago, when there were 50 mortgage deals on the market at below 1 per cent.

The Bank of England belatedly playing catching up with inflation has sent base rate from 0.1 per cent last December to 2.25 per cent now - and with inflation far from tamed and the US Federal Reserve going in all guns blazing on monetary policy, rates are likely to keep going up from here.

But the catalyst for the past month's big jump in mortgage rates has been the turmoil triggered by the Chancellor's ill-received mini-Budget and the flurry of borrowing Britain will have to do to fund it.

So, what happens next to mortgage rates, what should people who need to fix now do, and will this send house prices sinking?

On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert dive into the mortgage market to look at what is happening and why - and what borrowers can do about it.

Are expensive fixes now worth taking, what should you do if you are buying a home and is a variable rate mortgage really now the answer?

They answer these questions and more.

Plus, while rate rises are bad for mortgage borrowers they are proving good news for savers, who have been starved of decent deals for many years. The top fixed rate savings are knocking on the door of 5 per cent, but how high will savings rates go and should you fix and risk out on better ones in future?

The ill-fated mini-Budget also brought about the abolition of the 45p tax rate, except that's now been abolished itself as Kwasi Kwarteng staged a screeching U-turn this week. Nonetheless, Simon has some middle-class tax cutting ideas that he reckons make more sense and could be popular.

And finally, a reader wrote to This is Money telling us they had some letters written to them in the 1960s by a rock star who then died young and they could be worth £20,000... but will they have to pay tax if they sell?

And more to the point, who could the mystery rock star be?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to This Is Money Podcast. I'm Georgie Frost and joining me and editor Simon Lambert today is Assistant Edsel Helen Crane.

0:08.7

And coming up, the mortgage market mayhem continues. With home loans hitting their highest prices since 2008, we look at whether to fix for two, five or even ten years.

0:19.3

What you can do if you can't pay and ask, will more just hit 10%?

0:24.2

Also today, on the flip side, good news in the savings market, as top rates edge closer

0:29.0

to 5%.

0:30.1

Moving the top level of tax for the rich went down like a lead balloon, but our Simon's been

0:34.6

looking at some middle-class tax cuts that could prove to be a winner,

0:38.5

and selling letters from a world-famous rock star.

0:41.7

Do you have to pay tax on that?

0:43.2

Don't forget.

0:43.7

Step to date with all the latest breaking money news, just go to this ismoney.com.

0:47.5

com or download the app.

0:49.7

Market updates and conversations around the financial world don't have to be boring.

0:54.0

The Digest and Invest Podcast by Eatoro is a great way to tune into what's happening in a fun

0:58.7

and easily digestible format.

1:01.0

Discover the Digest and Invest podcast at E-Toro.com forward slash academy forward slash podcasts.

1:06.8

But first, mortgage rates continue to make headlines as the fallout continues from the

1:11.9

chances tax-cutting mini-budget a fortnight ago. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate has

1:17.6

reached over 6%. That's the highest level of interest in 14 years. Five-year fixes aren't far behind,

1:24.2

but how high will they go? 10%? More? The question is, if you're a homeowner

1:30.0

needing to remortgage or you're looking for a loan to buy a property at the moment, what do you do?

1:34.6

Fix now, if you can, but how long? Pay an early repayment charge, perhaps roll onto a standard

...

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