The Bank of England's figures show that as of last November, the average credit card interest rate was 15.89%, while the average interest rate for a standard variable rate mortgage was just 3.98%.

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All this would be similar to a homeowner forsaking a 4.5% fixed-rate 30-year mortgage for a variable-rate mortgage of nearly 5%.

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About half of mortgage borrowers have variable-rate loans and are therefore generally benefiting from the reduced cost of servicing their debt.

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The same is true of the assumption that the mortgage repayment will rise (it could be a longer-term fixed rate for example), or by how much - we have used the Standard Variable Rate (SVR), but the borrower may be using a mortgage which charges a different interest margin.

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The basis of any mortgage, whether you opt for a fixed, variable or tracker rate, is how you intend to repay the loan.

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Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, explained that most mortgages track a lender's standard variable rate, or the base rate, so most are not directly affected by Libor.

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