Financial markets insurance specialist MarketGuard has published research findings which suggest 46% of mortgage holders would be worried about their finances if their mortgage repayments increased as a consequence of base rate rises, while 7% of mortgage holders say outright that they won’t be able to meet their required repayments if interest rates go up.

Three quarters of mortgage holders are anticipating interest rates to rise in the next 12 months. 59% of mortgage holders are anticipating a rate rise of up to two to two and a half percentage points, and 15% are expecting rates to rise by more than two and a half percentage points. Mortgage holders are more likely to expect a rate rise than the wider public, of whom 63% think the next 12 months will see rates increase.

Chris Taylor, CEO of MarketGuard, said: “This research underlines the extent of exposure the British public has to interest rate risk. It is clear that we face a major problem if rates start to move dramatically upwards in response to inflationary pressure. Nearly half of the UK’s mortgage holders would feel the squeeze heavily and there can be little doubt that defaults and repossessions would increase.