Source: BBC News —
Alex Czok and her husband Tom Beech had hoped to start a family this year but when their mortgage went up by hundreds of pounds they put their plans on hold.
They are one of the four million UK households facing higher mortgage bills this year.
On Thursday, the Bank of England increased the UK’s main interest rate to 4% – its highest in almost 15 years.
But mortgage payments aren’t counted in the main cost of living figure that drives pay and benefit rises.
Ms Czok and Mr Beech, of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, were keen to get a move on with starting a family after the pandemic delayed their wedding plans.
They had done the budgeting for kids. They could make ends meet during a baby’s first year with money set aside for her maternity leave or childcare later on. But that all changed.
“Because of the mortgage going up by £300, the money I was thinking of putting aside for the child, it would eat up most of that, so I will have to wait until we get a better mortgage deal,” the 26-year-old said.
The average monthly mortgage bill will go up from £750 to £1,000, the Bank of England said in December.
The couple’s repayments are going up by a bit more than that average rise of £250.
It’s more than double the rise in energy bills that they had to suck up last year. Ms Czok says starting a family is going to have to wait.
Two different cost of living crises
The pay bump she got with a new job as an admin assistant for the council doesn’t come close to the double hit of inflation and rising interest rates.
