This week I am going to cover the subject of mortgages.

While I remain committed to doing all we can as a Labour council to ensure that as many people as possible can get access to council housing should they need it, there remain many people who want to own their own homes and have taken out mortgages to do so.  I recognise this is not a choice everyone can make, but for those who can, it feels like they have been severely let down by recent events.

Indeed, the most recent Government statistics compiled indicate that approximately 15,500 homes in Crawley are owned through a mortgage or loan, so it is important not to ignore how many people are going to be affected locally.

Analysis using Bank of England data shows that homeowners coming off two-year fixed term mortgages in October 2022 are set to pay £500 a month more on average after the Tory Government’s disastrous mini-Budget proposed handed unfunded tax cuts to the wealthiest.

Further investigation has found that the number of people refinancing on the terms above is forecast to be 1.8 million people out of a total 6.8 million mortgage holders – or one in four of all mortgage holders in the UK.

That means an estimated 4,016 households in Crawley Borough will face an eyewatering jump in mortgage repayments and be paying hundreds of pounds a month more from next year as rates top 6%, as a result of the Conservatives crashing the economy.

The Conservatives have sacrificed homeowners across the country who now have a Tory premium to pay on their mortgages.

Many young people in Crawley who have scrimped and saved for a deposit have in the blink of an eye been let down.

This is not simply an unfortunate mistake.  It is an unforgivable act of national self-harm.  A Tory crisis, created in Downing Street, paid for by working people.

I hope, although sadly it is not my expectation, that these events will not result in increased defaults and repossessions.  I cannot see how it won’t, particularly if wage rises remain low.

Cllr Michael Jones,

Leader, Crawley Borough Council