Rate rises 'won't spark property collapse'

The finance product provider says mortgage rates would need to jump 10% before there would be any serious threat of a collapse. Moneynet says despite the potential difficulties of a widely anticipated 0.25% base rate rise next week, a comparative look at the market in 1987 – when similar, overheating conditions prevailed – and 2007 shows danger points only arise when the percentage of income needed to pay the mortgage hits 30%. According to statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, in 1987 the typical mortgage advanced by lenders was £25,000, on an average income of £12,272. This w...