Housing Rights commissioned Perceptive Insight to undertake a study of homeowners in Northern Ireland who have a mortgage on their home, to assess the likely impact of recent interest rate rises. The research included 1,006 telephone interviews with mortgage holders and four case studies.
The aim of the study was to assess the levels of debt among homeowners, and the likely impact of interest rate rises and cost of living pressures, to gain an understanding of the vulnerability of those with mortgages. The research specifically sought to understand the profile of the market in Northern Ireland with regard to:
- number of mortgage holders on variable/tracker mortgages exposed to interest rate rises
- number of mortgage holders on fixed term mortgages about to expire
- number of mortgage holders with interest only mortgages
- number of mortgage holders on suspended possession orders
- levels of negative equity