Most mortgage holders are optimistic that their financial situation will remain the same or even improve in three years' time as they prepare for rising interest rates, research suggests.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) published the research by YouGov, which found that 60% of home owners with a mortgage think their financial situation will stay unchanged or get better in the next few years, even though they also expect interest rates to increase, pushing up borrowing costs generally.

Around half expect their finances to be broadly unchanged, while more than 10% predict their financial position will improve as the economy generally picks up.

But almost one third (32%) of those surveyed expect their finances to worsen as rates rise.

The CML said that the data, which was based on a survey of more than 2,300 people, also sheds light on likely triggers of mortgage payment difficulties, many of which were not directly related to their home loan.

Factors most commonly cited as affecting future mortgage affordability included the higher cost of living, minimal savings, low or falling income, other debts and ill health.

Actions that borrowers said they would be prepared to take to ensure they keep up their mortgage repayments include cutting back on non-essential spending, cancelling major spending plans, trying to remortgage to a cheaper deal or working more hours.

The Bank of England base rate is expected to start creeping up at some point in 2015, although Bank chief economist Andy Haldane recently said the outlook had become gloomier and signalled that the likely date for a rate hike, which had been expected in February, had been pushed back towards the middle of next year.

The CML, which has previously calculated that a 0.25% rate increase would add around £16 to the average mortgage payment, said its findings suggest that households have a "well-grounded" understanding of the plausibility of their strategies for coping with higher interest rates and are "realistic" about their prospects.

It said: "Those who expect their situation to get worse and to be in some degree of difficulty over the next few years are willing to take more action and consider a broader range of actions.

"They are generally open to trying a combination of coping strategies, rather than just opt for one."

Mortgage holders who are financially healthy and expect their situation to get better tended to say that that if they needed to take steps in order to continue paying their mortgage, they would cut back on non-essential spending.

Those who expect their situation to worsen but still expected to stay out of financial difficulty tended to say that as well as cutting back on essentials, they would also try to get a better-paid job or ask for a pay rise.

Households which expect their situation to grow worse and to be in slight financial trouble said that in addition to cutting back on non-essentials, they would try to cut back on food and clothing and remortgage to a better deal.

Meanwhile, those who expect to be in serious financial difficulty were focused on cancelling major spending plans altogether.

Mortgage lenders across the industry have recently been warning people to start preparing now for how they might cope with an interest rate rise, firstly by checking the details of their current mortgage deal as well as when it is due to run out.

If people think they are likely to struggle to cope with rising interest rates, they have been urged to contact their lender.

Last week, RBS announced it is to carry out ''extensive" research among customers of Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest in order to shed more light on the best ways to communicate with people about how they can prepare for the Bank of England base rate shifting from its historic 0.5% low, pushing up borrowing costs.