Rocketing mortgage rates clobber families' budgets

But the plans have been dumped. The Tingate family - Andrew's wife Cindy and their four children, aged five to 14 - will next month have to pay an extra $50 a week in mortgage repayments, and the new bedroom has been pushed down the priority list.

The Tingates are not alone in facing budget blowouts caused by rising mortgage rates, which have gone up about 1.5 per cent in the past two years.

About $65 billion of mortgages will come off fixed interest rates in the next two years, and homeowners will have to re-fix at higher rates.

Some face repayment increases of several thousand dollars a year, and a survey found one in four fear the increases will force them into default.

Andrew Tingate is in a good job with a solid income, as general manager of the Queenstown Events Centre. His wife works part-time at Happiness House, a community support centre.

With four children and living in one of New Zealand's most expensive areas, they have to budget carefully, and the extra $50 will be significant.

"We have no right to complain," said Cindy Tingate.

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