‘Lower interest rates might help me move out of home’

Anna-Marie Craven, 48, from Wales, said she put her detached cottage on the market after her mortgage rate more than doubled.

She is currently locked into a 4.8% mortgage, which rose from 2.2%, and is hoping to sell and downsize but is finding it hard to find a buyer.

“My husband was a serving police officer – when he died suddenly at the age of 51, I was left not only with a disabled little boy who at the time was 18 months old, but with the mortgage after the life insurance refused to pay out.

“I’ve managed now for over six years renegotiating on low rates but I can’t continue to pay on the new rate of 4.8%,” she said.

Ms Craven said she hoped the Bank of England’s rate cut would “stimulate the housing market” so she can finally find a buyer.

Nevertheless, she refers to herself as “one of the lucky ones”.

“If I sell, I can then downsize and buy outright, but the housing market is tough right now,” she said.