Growing concern over mortgage rates as anxious homeowners intensify their search for guidance

Research by the debt advisory specialists, Sirius Property Finance, shows that public concern about mortgage rates and defaulting on payments is high, as illustrated by the nation’s search trends since the start of 2023.

Sirius Property Finance has analysed UK Google Interest Scores for mortgage-related search terms to see what mortgage issues the UK public is most interested in and how this has changed since January.

Google Interest Scores represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 indicates peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. And so on.

The data shows that when it comes to the most prominent search terms, people are concerned about being able to afford their mortgage payments, with the search term ‘Mortgage Holiday’ having the highest Interest Score of 42.

And while many homeowners research the possibility of pausing their mortgage payments, others are looking to insure themselves in the instance that they can’t afford their payments in the future, with ‘Mortgage Insurance’ also one of the most prevalent search terms with a score of 31.6.

Despite how desperate things already are for so many homeowners, it’s clear that people are still concerned that things will get worse with the Interest Score for ‘Interest Rate Increase’ rising by 344.1% since the start of the year.

Interest Scores have also increased for ‘Mortgage Default’ (13.7%) and ‘Mortgage Holiday’ (11%).

Head of Corporate Partnerships at Sirius Property Finance, Kimberley Gates said, “The nation’s homebuyers are clearly worried about increasing interest rates and the impact they’re having on their mortgage repayments. Those who have enjoyed a prolonged period of mortgage affordability are suddenly finding that the cost of borrowing is putting a squeeze on their household finances and they are searching the internet for information on what they can do if they can’t afford to keep up.

Those who may find themselves in financial turmoil need to know that there is help available to them if their situation is getting on top of them. And while online information is a great way to start, it’s important to go one step further and speak to someone who can offer proper guidance based on your individual situation.”