Homeowners face £300 a month mortgage hike The Consumer Credit Counselling Service said: "Households are being hit by a double whammy. High interest rates and the squeeze on household budgets across the board are combing to make it even harder for people to repay their debts and many are at risk of falling even further behind. The banks have also blamed the increase on the need to offer better interest rates to savers. Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group, said: "If consumers think that banks are suffering alongside them in this economic crisis, they really do not understand what is going on." John Mann MP, who sites on the Treasury select committee, said the rate raises were an outrage considering Lloyds Banking Group took a £21bn taxpayer bailout in 2008. He told the Daily Mail: "They take taxpayer money in the form of a bail-out and then take their money again through their mortgages. It is totally unfair. RBS said the changes will take effect from May 1. They will apply to RBS and NatWest-branded offset mortgages and the "One Account" range which includes Virgin One, DirectLine One and NatWest One. The hike comes after Britain's five big banks - HSBC, Santander, Barclays, Lloyds and RBS revealed profits on their high street operations of £10.7bn, before the cost of compensation for the victims of mis-sold payment protection insurance. It follows figures published this week that revealed how the large banks had driven up the profit margins on credit cards and overdrafts.