Across Europe, borrowers looking to secure new mortgages or refinance existing ones have found their payments soaring on the back of sharp rises in central banks’ interest rates. For those already on the housing ladder, there are vast differences in levels of protection against higher rates. Much depends not only on variations in rate-setters’ levels of aggressiveness but also on divergences within national mortgage markets. Even within the single currency area, borrower preferences and the products lenders offer diverge dramatically.