Aussie couple reveal how much their mortgage has increased

A young couple that bought their home in 2021 have shared exactly how much more they are paying and the dream it has “slowed down.”

Queensland couple Perinna and Connor bought the “worst house” on the best street in 2021, with plans to renovate, but their mortgage repayments have almost doubled since then.

Perinna, 29, and his partner, Connor, 30, survive off a single income. He works in the lucrative mining industry, and she’s a stay-at-home mum.

When they bought the place, they had enough savings to afford to renovate, but then interest rates kept soaring.

“Our current mortgage repayments are just under $1,000 per week, which is a big jump from our initial repayment of $550, which was just above our minimum repayment,” Perinna told news.com.au.

The young mum said that while Connor makes decent money and is “adequately compensated” for the time he spends away from his family as a FIFO worker, there is still only one wage to support the family of three.

“We are a one-income household with a mortgage and a young child so we try to be as frugal with our finances as possible,” she said.

The young family’s payments have almost doubled. Picture: Supplied

They planned to renovate but didn’t realise how expensive it would get. Picture: Supplied

Rising interest rates have hit all Australians hard.

If you own a home, you’re paying more on your mortgage. If you rent, there’s a chance your landlord has upped your rent to help cover their inflated mortgage.

Perinna said it is always “disappointing” to hear that the rates won’t be coming down but ultimately her family have coped “okay.”

“We’ve funnelled some of our savings and disposable income to necessities which means we haven’t been able to save for the rest of the renovations as quickly as we would have liked to,” she explained.

The plan was originally to buy, sell, and move on. Connor is a carpenter, so he can do much of the work himself, but it hasn’t been that straightforward.

Despite the uncertain financial times the young couple surged ahead with their plans to add value to their house by renovating their backyard.

It took way longer than they anticipated. As groceries surged and their mortgage increased, their renovation costs soared.

“Interest rates would have been the major thing that slowed down our progress. We bought our house when interest rates were 2 per cent and our current rate is 6.05 per cent so it’s tripled since we purchased the property,” she said.

“The cost of materials also rose as inflation grew but interest rates were the one thing that impacted us the most.”

At one point they paused renovating because of costs. Picture: Supplied

She said they would have loved to finish it in one go. Picture: Supplied

At one point the couple put down tools because they just couldn’t afford to keep going.

“We had to take a six-month break on our backyard renovation for two reasons: the interest rate rises and the soaring cost of living meant we had no choice. We would have loved to finish it in one go but it wasn’t manageable. When we did have the money, we would do what we could but it was and has been a slow process,” she said.

Connor’s time is halved with his family because of his work. They didn’t want their family life to revolve around just fixing up the house.

“The second reason is that Connor’s job is fly-in fly-out and every week that he wasn’t working, he was working on the house so he also needed a break as it wasn’t sustainable for him or our family.”   

Backyard before they renovated. Picture: Supplied

And the final result. Picture: Supplied

The backyard wasn’t just a vanity project, with the couple previously telling Ruggable Australia that it was something they needed to do to ensure the safety of their son.

“The garden was overgrown with weeds, the timber retaining wall was collapsing and decaying, the fence was falling in places, and the ground was wet due to no drainage,” Perinna said.

“There was limited yard space as a rotary clothesline took up half of it and a garden bed beside the house took up another quarter so we wanted to open it right up.”

She further explained to news.com.au that the retaining wall was the first thing they tackled when they moved in as they “didn’t feel it was safe for our son to play in the yard the way it was”.

She said they always knew it would be “costly” to renovate.

They had planned for it by saving for years before purchasing the house but were shocked by how “quickly the money ran out.”

“With inflation and higher labour costs, the money didn’t stretch as far as we first thought,” she said.

It also isn’t over.

The couple now plans to renovate the interior of their house, but they need to save some more money before they can start.

“We find it hard to save to renovate the rest of the house while living off one income, paying the mortgage and staying on top of our living expenses and bills,” she said.

“The whole process is taking longer than expected but we’re lucky because we’re in a position where we don’t need to rush.”

Eventually, the plan is to sell the house once it is fully renovated and hopefully capitalise on the fact that property prices are going up in Queensland.

Still, it’ll require some work, but the young mum is optimistic.

“We’d be silly to stop now,” she said.