Mhairi Black has slammed the Tories for "not taking mortgage rate rises seriously" and urged them to offer short-term support at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
The SNP Deputy Westminster leader said that "people can't afford to wait until Christmas" for their mortgage rates to come down.
She criticised Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for saying people “need to hold their nerve” and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt for telling mortgage holders they should “just shop around”.
It comes after the Bank of England announced that nearly 1m households face £500 monthly mortgage cost hike by end of 2026.
Black and the other deputy leaders were stepping in at PMQs because Sunak was at the Nato summit in Lithuania.
Black said: "Last month, the Deputy Prime Minister dismissed warnings from these benches that mortgage rates were nearly back to where they were after the disastrous money budget.
"This week, mortgage rates have surpassed those levels. How high do they need to go until he and his government takes it seriously?"
But Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden denied responsibility.
He said: "The Honourable lady knows, people around the world know, that the driver of higher mortgage rates is higher inflation and higher inflation is caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the post Covid supply chains.
"But what we have to do is make sure we half inflation. It's only by getting inflation under control that we will be able to get mortgage rates down and that requires discipline.
"Discipline on spending, discipline on public sector pay and discipline on energy supply. All of which is lacking from that party."
But Black said that people "can't afford to wait".
She said: "The Bank of England predicts that mortgage payments will rise by at least £500 for a million households.
"The Prime Minister says that people need to 'hold their nerve'. The Chancellor said just last night that mortgage holders should 'just shop around'.
"Speaking of his own party, the member for Southwest Devon said if the circus doesn't stop by Christmas, it's over.
"Does the Deputy Prime Minister understand that people can't afford to wait until Christmas and that they need help right now?"
Dowden replied: "The fundamental thing we have to do is to halve inflation. That is an approach that the IMF 'strongly endorses' because higher inflation drives higher mortgage rates.
"But that's not all we are doing. With the mortgage charter signed off by 90% of mortgage providers, we are giving people help to extend their terms, to go interest only, and to reduce their monthly payments.
"Now that action is supported by Martin Lewis - a real money saving expert - unlike the big spenders on those benches."
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