Ian Richardson, 40

Ian has had to shoulder three interest rate rises since taking out his standard variable rate mortgage with the Woolwich in December last year.

Mr Richardson, an administration officer with the Territorial Army's medical branch, lives in Pocklington, Yorkshire, with his wife Michelle and children Amanda, 11, and Marcus, 9. He took out a £145,000 home loan at about 7 per cent, and since then it has risen by 0.75 percentage points.

He has been overpaying his mortgage by £250 a month in the hope of repaying the loan by the time he is 55. But he is concerned that yesterday’s rate rise could thwart that plan. He says: “A further rise to 6 per cent would make me panic, but I think Labour would be kicked out before that could happen. There would be outrage.”

Tania Jones, 31

Tania will have to find more than £150 extra each month to cover the cost of her mortgage once her current fixed-rate deal with Northern Rock comes to an end in September.

Mrs Jones, 31, who lives with her husband Rodhri Jones in Camberwell, London, is determined to lock into another five year fixed-rate deal. She says: “I am annoyed that we are going to have to pay more for our home loan and even more annoyed that we did not take out a five-year fix two years ago.”

The couple at present pay 4.69 per cent on their £180,000 home loan, but to clinch another competitive deal, they are likely to have to pay a large arrangement fee. “All the good deals come with a big price tag,” Mrs Jones-says, “but I think it’s worth it to be sure of what our payments will be for the next five years. We don’t think rates will fall much in the next two years, and if we only opt for a two-year deal then we will just have to pay another large fee when we remortgage in 2009.”

John White, 32

John may have to put plans to move home on hold because of the latest rate rise. His £174,000 fixed-rate mortgage deal with Nationwide pegged at 4.39 per cent will end in October.

Mr White, 32, who lives with his wife Cindy and their 18-month-old son, Alastair, in Winchester, is at present paying £791 a month in mortgage repayments. But if he takes out a new fix at 6 per cent, his repayments will rise.

Mr White said: “At the beginning of the year we started getting worried about this, but the general consensus was it was too early to take out a new deal.

“We need a bigger house – it’s a necessity – but we’re also conscious to keep our borrowing costs down at this uncertain time, especially with a growing child.

“The rate rise throws a spanner in our plans – we obviously now need to sit down and work out the numbers.”