What would a mortgage rate rise cost?

More than half of all residential mortgages are fixed rate loans, so they aren't affected by a rise in the Bank of England's base rate.

That's until, of course, the fixed rate deal ends and the borrower is shoved onto a high Standard Variable Rate.

There are over 4 million property owners with variable rate mortgages, though, according to the banking trade body, UK Finance.

They're the ones anxious to know how they would be affected if the Bank pushes up base rate in November, as many are now speculating.

On average they have £116,000 of the loan outstanding.

A 0.25% increase in the mortgage rate would cost around an extra £15 a month, I'm told by brokers London & Country.

Looking a bit deeper into the crystal ball, imagining a series of rate rises adding up to 1%, and you get to a much heftier monthly increase of £60.

It's worth remembering that people who have bought recently or remortgaged tend to have larger loans, which makes them more vulnerable -- if they've gone for a variable rate deal, which most haven't.

The average new mortgage is £187,000.