Mortgage Rise to Hit Millions in Britain

Millions of families in Britain face rising mortgage rates with the country's leading lenders pushing up interest rates.

The RBS-NatWest group is pushing up rates from 3.75 percent to 4 percent and Halifax — one of Britain's biggest lenders — is expected to follow suit with a similar announcement on Saturday, March 3, 2012.

The increases come despite the Bank of England, the country's central bank, maintaining its base rate at just 0.5 percent and will be met with fury by homeowners.

Such a rise would drive up repayments on a 100,000-pound mortgage by 24.31 pounds a month or just under 300 pounds a year.

Other banks and building societies could now follow suit. The increases could not come at a worse time for hard-pressed families, who are struggling to make ends meet.