𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

British homeowners face a mortgage hammerblow of up to £840 a year as rising government borrowing costs push up the price of home loans. Roughly one million homeowners have remortgaged from cheaper fixed-rate deals since February, according to Bank of England figures.

Their repayments are estimated to have risen by between £50 and £70 a month, according to analysis by the Financial Times.

That means some households are now paying up to £840 more over the course of a year simply because they have moved on to a new mortgage deal. And the increases can be considerably larger for people with bigger mortgages.

The latest squeeze comes as the cost of government borrowing has risen, putting pressure on mortgage rates and adding to the financial strain facing households.

It creates a difficult position for Prime Minister Andy Burnham ahead of his Budget on October 28.

Mr Burnham is under pressure to raise money while maintaining the confidence of financial markets, but higher borrowing costs are feeding through into the finances of homeowners.

Mortgage rates have risen sharply in recent weeks.

Some 59 lenders have increased their mortgage rates since the beginning of September, according to Moneyfacts.

The average two-year fixed mortgage rate has risen from 5.59% on September 1 to around 5.9%. Five-year fixed rates have also moved higher, approaching 6% compared with 5.63% at the start of the month.