Families in Blue Wall hit with £3,000 “Truss tax” in year since mini-budget

22 Sep 2023

EMBARGO: 22:30 Friday September

New research reveals homeowners in London and the South East have seen their mortgage payments rise by £3,000 in year since mini budget
The two ‘Blue Wall’ regions are the hardest hit, compared to an average hit of £2,000 across the country
Those on a 2-year deal who remortgaged in the wake of the mini budget saw their mortgage rate jump by average of 1.69% to 5.17%

Homeowners in London and the South East have seen their mortgage payments rise by a staggering £3,000 in the year since Liz Truss’ shambolic mini budget, new research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The party said it showed that homeowners are still paying a “Truss tax” on their mortgages and suffering the consequences of years of Conservative chaos.

According to figures provided by the House of Commons Library, typical homeowners coming out of a two-year deal in the week after the mini budget last September would have seen their rate shoot up from 1.69% to 5.17%.

This has led to a typical hit of £3,066 over the past year for homeowners in London, where the average outstanding mortgage is £150,000. Families in the South East, where the average outstanding mortgage is £144,000, will have seen a typical hit of £2,944 over the last twelve months. This compares to an annual hit of £2,003 - or £167 a month - for the typical mortgage-holder across Great Britain.

Those who locked in for a five-year deal after the mini-budget will have benefited from a slightly lower interest rate of 5.1%, but will still fork out a whopping £12,893 extra in London and £12,377 in the South East over the course of their deal.

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to support struggling households at risk of losing their home by launching an emergency Mortgage Protection Fund, fully paid for by reversing tax cuts handed by the Conservatives to the big banks. The party is also calling for new protections for renters, including an immediate ban on no-fault evictions and extending the default tenancy period to three years to give renters certainty.

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

“One year on since the disastrous mini budget, families are still facing a crippling Truss tax on their mortgages.

“Rishi Sunak has shown he is totally out of touch with families having to cut back because their mortgage payments have gone through the roof.

“He could choose to help struggling homeowners at risk of losing their home, instead he is handing billions of pounds of tax cuts to the banks.

“People will never forgive this Conservative government for taking a wrecking ball to the economy and then forcing families to pick up the tab.”

ENDS