Concerns over mortgage payments have led to a 64% rise in first time buyers investing in physical gold since the UK government increased the base rate last week for the first time in a decade, according The Pure Gold Company.

This has initially prompted a 2% rise in gold prices.

CEO Josh Saul said: “Many of our enquiries are from people concerned that mortgage payments will become unaffordable resulting in property sales, relocations and a fear of negative equity.

“Over a fifth of people enquiring about buying gold have already noticed an increase in their mortgage payments as their variable rate has been affected immediately.

“We’ve also seen a 73% increase in finance professionals over the age of 50 purchasing physical gold in the last week. Unaffordable mortgages and record high debt are at the forefront of this decision. Twenty-nine per cent of people who made enquiries to The Pure Gold Company in the last week have already taken action over the last six months to sell investment properties and use the proceeds to purchase physical gold.”

He added that 61% of people under the age of 40 stated that they would struggle to pay their mortgages if rates increased to pre-crisis levels of 5%.

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