Despite talk of low interest rates for the foreseeable future, those holding super-low tracker mortgages are being warned they will face dramatic rises in payments, some as much as £7,000 a year.

Many of those that took out tracker mortgages in 2007 have benefitted enormously from the recessionary low interest rate environment, much to the chagrin of the building societies and banks which originally wrote the business. But as these mortgages had a two-year break, they will default back to their lender’s standard rates. For example, on a £200,000 interest free loan, currently at 0%, but facing a hike to 3.5%, monthly repayments could rise by nearly £600, meaning some £7,000 extra in repayments over a year. On a £500,000 mortgage, this could mean a whopping £17,000 extra payments a year.

Economists think that interest rates could stay at 0.5% for at least another year.

Many with tracker mortgages at the Halifax face some of the biggest rises. Those who took out deals in the first half of 2007 which gave them a rate calculated at 0.51 points below the Bank rate, will be heading for a new rate of 3.5%; meaning an increase of hundreds of pounds a month.

Default rates differ from lender to lender. HSBC offer 2.89% on a two-year fixed deal, with there’s a hefty fee of £1,499. They also offer a five-year deal at 4.39%, with the lesser fee of £999. Cheltenham & Gloucester are currently at 2.5%, as is the Nationwide. The Council of Mortgage Lenders say the average is currently at just over 4%.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

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