About 80% of mortgage holders and renters are actually frightened about rising housing prices, in keeping with a ballot.

Which? mentioned the determine was the very best within the 10-year historical past of its month-to-month Consumer Insight Tracker.

It comes as rents continue to rise and mortgage payments stay excessive after the Bank of England hiked interest rates 14 times in a row in a battle to convey down excessive inflation.

While the Bank has indicated that interest rates increases may be nearing a peak, economists nonetheless anticipate it to creep as much as 5.75% earlier than they begin falling once more.

Which? mentioned 79% of mortgage house owners and 81% of renters described themselves as frightened about housing prices in its ballot of two,000 adults, which was carried out within the month to 10 August.

The figures symbolize a pointy rise on the survey’s findings lately. In August 2021, the ballot discovered 62% of renters have been frightened – and in December 2021, roughly half of mortgage holders felt the identical.

Rocio Concha, a director of coverage and advocacy on the shopper group, mentioned: “Although UK inflation is slowly starting to fall, these record levels of worry about housing costs and the looming threat of higher interest rates later this month shows that for many people, the cost of living crisis is far from over.

“We’d encourage anybody who’s struggling to hunt free debt recommendation and attain out to their mortgage supplier or landlord for assist.”

She added: “As so many individuals face monetary hardship, Which? is looking on companies in important sectors like meals, power and telecoms suppliers to do extra to assist clients get a very good deal and keep away from pointless or unfair prices and fees throughout this disaster.”

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Despite the considerations, Which? mentioned the quantity of people that missed a mortgage or rental fee had remained regular at an estimated 630,000 households within the month to 10 August.

The ballot instructed that an estimated 2.2 million households missed or defaulted on an important fee similar to a invoice or bank card fee throughout the identical interval.

The survey additionally discovered that 56% of households have made at the very least one adjustment to their monetary habits – similar to slicing again on some gadgets or dipping into financial savings – to cowl spending on necessities similar to utility payments and groceries, down barely from 59% in the course of the earlier month.