If mortgage increases are passed on to tenants, already pressurised household budgets will be stretched even further, says Dr Alison Briggs, research associate in human geography at the University of Manchester’s School of Education, Environment and Development. “The medium to long-term picture looks very bleak, with potential for greater numbers of tenants being unable to pay their rent.”

Another potential consequence is landlords choosing to sell up in the face of mortgage hikes. There is currently “a chronic shortage of rental supply, particularly in London”, says Copley, as people stay put to avoid rent hikes, and a landlord exodus could end up “possibly adding to the supply issue” for renters, though it’s by no means a simple issue: it’s worth noting that if more housing stock is freed up, this could help assuage the supply and demand problem for would-be buyers currently stuck in the rental market.

Still, this would take a while, and in the short term, for renters looking to buy, the net costs of acquiring a property are going up significantly and more resources are being consumed by paying increased rents, Briggs says, which inevitably “limits renters’ capacity to enter the property market” (and if they remain as renters, they are adding to that supply and demand problem).

Mortgage payments are set to soar – so how does this impact renters?