UK housing market outlook dims with jump in borrowing costs

“Clearly, the structure of the mortgage market has shifted, so the speed of pass-through from policy changes into mortgage rates is a little slower than in the past,” BoE chief economist Huw Pill said.

LONDON: The United Kingdom housing market is braced for headwinds as rising borrowing costs add to the cost-of-living crisis stretching affordability for property buyers.

Mortgage lenders are following the Bank of England (BoE) by raising interest rates from historic lows. That’s making it more expensive to own a home at a time when prices of everything from energy to clothes are suffering the worst bout of inflation since the 1980s.