Affordability worsens for would-be house buyers

Taking a step on to the UK’s housing ladder has become less affordable for consumers across the country in recent weeks, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Figures from the CML show that larger slices of household incomes were being spent on mortgage interest payments at the end of September than was the case a month before.

The council puts the increased financial pressures down to the rises in the base rate interest introduced earlier this year, which has also added to the overall
debt management burden of millions of families around the country.

“Looking forward, affordability is likely to continue to constrain buying activity, which we expect to remain subdued,” said the CML’s general director Michael Coogan.

“But rates have now reached their peak and a move downwards will help ease some of the pressure on household finances.”

The Bank of England has opted to increase the base rate of interest on five occasions since August of last year, which made becoming debt free more difficult for many of the UK’s credit consumers.