By Jennifer Hill

LONDON (Reuters) - Homeowners are feeling the pinch following five interest rate hikes, cutting down on other borrowing and saving less, a survey shows.

Their appetite for unsecured borrowing has plunged, with balances falling around 3 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to Alliance & Leicester's (A&L) latest "borrowing monitor".

In contrast, unsecured loans among all borrowers (including those who do not have mortgages) were up around 3 percent on an annualised basis.

The trend is set to continue, the poll of 2,245 people shows: mortgage borrowers saying they are 50 percent more likely than the general population to reduce credit card debt and personal loans within the next six months.

At the same time, people are saving 3.1 percent of their incomes, up 2.1 percent on the first quarter, but still only half the 10-year average of 6 percent.

Those with mortgage debt are increasingly lagging behind the average.

In January, mortgaged households had savings of two-thirds the level of non-mortgaged homes -- a figure that has now dropped to less than half.

Sean Murphy, director of strategic planning at A&L, said: "Families are cutting back on their borrowing and their saving to help ensure they can afford higher mortgage and other household bills.