1.4 million households face higher mortgage payments in 2023 

This comes as an aftershock following the mortgage mayhem that followed September’s ill-fated mini budget. 

The ONS stated that over half (57%) of these households were on fixed rates below 2%.

Meaning when those borrowers’ remortgage in the near future it is very likely to be at a higher rate of interest.

The ONS refer to the Office of Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) expectations of the future path of the Bank Rate, which is expected to peak at 4.8% by the end of 2023.

The BoE has been increasing the Bank Rate since the start of 2022 as part of its efforts to return inflation to its 2% target level. This has meant the Bank Rate increasing from 0.25% at the beginning of 2022 to 3.5% in December 2022, the highest this rate has been since October 2008.

Those deals that are due to mature through the course of 2024 will be from two-year fixed rate deals made in 2022 and five-year fixed rate deals made in 2019, when mortgage rates were generally higher than 2%.

The ONS report, using Bank of England data on mortgage transactions, highlighted that 353,000 fixed rate mortgages would be up for renewal during the first quarter of 2023.

UK Finance estimates that 1.8 million fixed-rate deals are scheduled to end this year.

A UK Finance spokesperson said: "Lenders stand ready to help customers who might be struggling with their mortgage payments, with a range of tailored support available. 

"Anyone who is concerned about their finances should contact their lender as soon as possible to discuss the options available to help."