WHY HAVE UK MORTGAGE RATES SOARED?
There are two main types of mortgage rate - variable and fixed.
Fixed rate mortgages lock in a particular interest rate upfront, usually for a period of two to five years.
Banks say they have to reflect these market moves to avoid pricing mortgages at a loss.
Critics say banks could do much more, particularly as they have passed rate rises through to savers much more slowly than mortgage rates have risen.
Persons:
BoE, Banks, Nicholas Mendes, John Charcol, Mendes, Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, Roger Gewolb, Sinead Cruise, Iain Withers, Catherine Evans
Organizations:
Soaring, Bank of, WHO, Finance, ASK, Labour, Fair Finance, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
Britain, Bank of England, States