The chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng’s speech at the Commons dispatch box on 23 September last year, and his refusal to publish the Office for Budget Responsibility’s autumn 2022 forecast on the state of the economy, led to a run on the pound, sharply higher borrowing costs and a crisis in the UK pensions industry.
A year on from Liz Truss and Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget, people from across the country shared with the Guardian how their lives and finances were affected by its chaotic aftermath.
The family of Colin Kleanthous, 65, from Bucknell, Bicester, lost a fortune when they were caught up in the property market meltdown immediately after the mini-budget.
“We lost about £100,000 because of the mini-budget, which coincided with the sale of my parents’ house. We had to drop the price massively, simply to get buyers in the door to view it. We needed a quick sale to pay for our dad’s care costs, and had no other choice, as his care home costs more than my monthly salary.”
Kleanthous said the lost money was equivalent to a year’s fees for his father’s care, and was unsure whether the family would have enough money to keep paying for it.
“What we have currently is sufficient for just five years. Saying this caused our family a lot of stress would be an understatement. My mother passed away in July last year, and this all felt like the final nail in the coffin.”
Patrick, 44, a private tutor who bought his two-bed terrace flat in Catford in 2018, is among the millions of homeowners who were affected by the mortgage crisis that was triggered when the Bank of England saw no other recourse but to sharply crank up interest rates.
“The impact of the mini-budget on my life has been massive,” he said. “The shock to interest rates means my mortgage payments are increasing by 50% next month, raising my monthly payments from £1,000 to £1,500, while my business has suffered from the resulting economic uncertainty. I’ve spent all year desperately trying to stay afloat, and had to take in a lodger to make ends meet.
“I’ve gone from being able to pay my bills and put aside money every month to save and pay down student loans to just barely hanging on.”
Patrick felt he had no other choice but to fix his new expensive mortgage deal for five years, at around 6% interest.
“My new mortgage payments will be 50% of my income, but I just really couldn’t afford any further increases, so I had to lock it in. I’m not going out, buying cheap food, I’d like to start saving for retirement and to pay off my loans from getting an education in America but I don’t see how that can happen right now.”
View image in fullscreenHelen Hartstein. Photograph: Guardian Community
After Helen Hartstein’s husband suffered a brain injury in November 2021, followed by a stroke in June 2022, the couple decided they needed to sell their house in Buckfastleigh and move to Exeter.
“Whilst he had made a good recovery, my husband was unable to drive and public transport here is abysmal. He was left feeling very isolated,” Hartstein, who is 53 and works in a museum, said. “We also wanted to downsize as it was unlikely that he would be able to return to his previous job and our expenses were unsustainable.”
They put their four-bedroom house on the market in September 2022, and found a buyer within two weeks. But then the chaos of the budget hit, leading them to lose the offer after the chain collapsed. Estate agents have advised them to take the property off the market until the situation improves.
Hartstein remains uncertain about when they will be able to sell, and her mortgage rate is expected to rise at the end of the year and increase their costs by around £200 monthly.
Though Hartstein’s husband has made a strong recovery and recently regained his driving licence, as well as securing a new job, their finances are much tighter than before and the family remain keen to downsize. Although she stresses that there are others in far more precarious situations, the experience has left Hartstein shaken.
“The whole experience – the period of ill health and then what happened with the housing market – brought things home to me,” she said. “Before my husband became ill, we were quite comfortable; we had a really nice life, and suddenly something like that turns your whole world upside down. You realise how fragile everything is, and how people can become homeless.
“I would really like the chance to explain to Liz Truss how her actions have had a real impact on our lives. It’s not just something abstract on paper, it affected real people’s lives.”
Malcolm, a retired 64-year-old from Winchester, fears his retirement will be a lot less comfortable than he had anticipated because of the market turmoil that ensued after the mini-budget.
“Within five days of the arrogant mini-budget, my two private pensions lost over £100k in value in five working days. Markets go up and down of course, but I’ve never seen such a sharp drop. I’ll never forgive them, as to this day the pensions have not fully recovered,” he said.
“Having enough money for my retirement was important to me, so I carefully planned my finances. Plans for the near future had been to invest in low-carbon improvements to our property – to replace our gas boilers with heat pumps – and to switch from our petrol car to a hybrid one, and eventually a fully electric car. These plans are all on hold and remain on hold for the foreseeable future.”
Malcolm says the shrinking of his pension pots will also affect his ability to financially support his two children.
“My daughter works for the NHS, and she’s very tight when it comes to money. She is struggling to manage the recent increases of her mortgage. So we, as much as possible, try to help with regards to her kids and day-to-day things that she won’t necessarily have money for, but as a result of us having to tighten our belts, it’s not so easy to do that now.”
