Keep Calm and Keep Moving
Mortgage rates are making headlines but has it killed the market? Here's what's actually happening and why you should stay calm and keep moving.
If you've picked up a newspaper or scrolled through your phone lately, you'd be forgiven for thinking the mortgage market has gone off the rails. The headlines are loud and yes, things have shifted. We're not going to pretend otherwise. What we will do is give you the full picture.
In this article we'll cover what the rate changes actually mean for your pocket in real money, why buyer activity across South East London and Kent remains strong and how we're helping sellers move forward with a clear plan - and a backup, just in case.
The number that matters
James King, Managing Director of Mortgage Advice Bureau, sits down with buyers and sellers every day and here's what he says:
"People come in expecting bad news. But when we actually work out the numbers, they're almost always relieved. For most people, the effect of interest rate changes compared to what they'd pay each month is less than half their weekly food shop. It's really not the disaster the newspapers make it out to be."
He's right. For the average person with a mortgage in the UK, the total impact of everything you've been reading about in the news is around £78 a month extra. That's it. The rates that most people can actually get, not the scary averages splashed across the headlines, have only gone up by around 0.7%. Which works out at roughly £39 more for every £100,000 you borrow.
That's less than most people spend on coffees a month. Worth keeping in mind.
What about homes in our area?
In Kent, the average home costs around £375,000. Whether that works for you depends on your deposit, your income and your situation - and that's exactly the conversation we have with every single person who comes to us.
If that price feels like a bit of a stretch, don't write yourself off just yet. Speak to our mortgage team and they'll work out exactly what the numbers look like for you personally. A conversation with them has a habit of changing people's minds.
Proof of what's actually happening in the housing market
People are still moving. March was The Robinson Jackson Group's best month of 2026 so far. In fact, the whole of the first three months of the year has been really positive. On the sales side, more people got the keys to their new home last month than at any other point this year. And as those customers ended their journey, several hundred started their by accepting offers across March.
Buyers are very much still out there and very active. Across South East London and Kent, our teams conducted over 4,000 viewings every month throughout Q1. And this didn’t seem to tail off towards the end.
As Tony Murray, one of our branch managers, put it: "Whilst others are fumbling around with no direction, The Robinson Jackson Group has a clear plan to navigate our customers in all eventualities. We’re single minded to help mover get to where they want to be as smoothly as possible."
The bottom line
It’s fair to say that the mortgage market is fluctuating. But it’s far from broken. Rates are still lower than they were a couple of years ago. Buyers are still out there - we've got the viewing numbers to prove it! And the people who keep moving, even when the news is a bit noisy, are usually the ones who look back and feel glad they did.
Come and have a chat with your local team and we'll tell you exactly where you stand - clearly, honestly and without the drama.
Together, we make it happen.
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