BRITS could be forced to cough up an extra £3,500 on their mortgages as the country spirals into a deep recession, a property expert has claimed.
Harry Hill, the founder of property giant Rightmove, said a recession could see mortgage rates soar “from £1,000 to £3,500 a month”.
Mr Hill – who sold estate agents Countrywide for an eye watering £1billion in 2007 – also revealed he is “nervous’ about a “potentially deep recession”.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday the property tycoon said it was borrowers in “blue-collar working class areas” like Manchester and Darlington that will be most impacted by a crippling recession.
He explained: “The thought that these people are going to be less well off in the next 10, 15 or 20 months is not going to be good for any market, and certainly not the housing market.”
And he warned of “20 percent” reductions in house prices as the property market goes down “in every direction”.
Monthly mortgage repayments are set to double for many of Britain’s 1.8million homeowners who are due to refinance next year.
Mr Hill went on to explain how higher borrowing costs will likely encourage many of those with mortgages to put their properties on to the market, which would trigger a reduction in prices.
As the country falls face first into a recession – with a demise in trade, business and transactions – a collapse in house prices will “hurt people a lot”, he added.
But he stressed most homeowners are unlikely to end up in negative equity, when the value of a home is less than the price originally paid.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research predicts 3.8million households will see their monthly mortgage repayments rise by an average of £400.
This is if interest rates, currently at 3 per cent, peak at 4.5 per cent in line with market expectations.
