UK Mortgage Rates Hit 15-Year High, Threatening Housing Market Recovery

* A key British mortgage rate hit a 15-year high of 6.66% on Tuesday, adding to strains on the country's slowing housing market.

* The average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate climbed to 6.66%, narrowly exceeding the 6.65% touched on Oct.

20 and the highest since August 2008.

* Britain's housing market activity staged a recovery in early 2023 from the turmoil triggered by the unfunded tax-cutting plans of former Prime Minister Liz Truss, but homeowners and buyers have faced renewed mortgage pain in recent months.

* Fixed mortgage deal rates have risen rapidly in recent weeks due to stickier-than-expected consumer price inflation, which held at 8.7% in May, and increased market bets on the Bank of England's benchmark rate peaking at 6.5%.

* Swap rates, a key measure lenders use to determine the cost of mortgage borrowing, have also soared.

* Major mortgage lenders have repriced home loan offerings due to the surge in mortgage rates.

* Most households have yet to face the impact of higher borrowing costs as they are still locked in to previous deals.

* British homebuyers typically take out mortgages with an interest rate that is fixed for two or five years, and then remortgage on to a new fixed rate or accept a variable rate.

* UK Finance estimates that 800,000 Britons will need to refinance loans in the second half of this year, and a further 1.6 million in 2024.

* Analysts estimate that the average homeowner who refinances a home loan in 2024 will have to pay an extra 2,900 pounds a year.

* House prices have also shown the hit to the market, with mortgage lender Halifax reporting a 2.6% annual fall in house prices in June, the largest decline since 2011, and Nationwide reporting a 3.5% drop year-on-year last month, the biggest since