Around 1.8 million borrowers whose fixed-rate mortgages have come to an end are currently saving approximately £2,600 a year each, through having reverted to their lenders’ standard variable rates. According to new research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), many seem to be happy to adopt a “wait and see” attitude when it comes [...]
base rate
Mortgage rate threat recedes
Homeowners should benefit from another reprieve on interest rates this month, with the Governor of the Bank of England having warned that rate hikes would only worsen the “massive” economic challenges faced by highly indebted economies. Addressing the European Parliament’s Systemic Risk Board yesterday, Mr King said: “The economic consequences of high-level indebtedness now would [...]
Mortgage borrowers granted another base rate reprieve
Homeowners on lenders’ tracker and standard variable rates have been granted another reprieve, with the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee having decided to keep the base rate at 0.5% in March.
The rate has remained unchanged since March 2009, when it was cut to its current historic low.
Meanwhile, research from Moneyfacts.co.uk shows that rates [...]
BoE governor committed to low interest rates
As homeowners on lenders’ standard variable rates increasingly seek out fixed-rate deals to offset the threat of a rise in the base rate, the Governor of the Bank of England has reaffirmed his commitment to keeping interest rates low.
Speaking in Newcastle last night, Mervyn King admitted that inflation could rise to 5% during 2011 (currently [...]
Mortgage lending at its lowest since 2000
Gross mortgage lending fell 6% in December, compared with a month earlier, to the lowest level recorded since 2000.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the £11 billion total also reflects an annual decline of 18%, although comparisons are distorted by the ending of the 2009 stamp duty holiday.
For 2010 as a whole, lending [...]
Base rate on hold at 0.5%
The Bank of England has announced that the base rate will remain on hold at 0.5% in January.
The Bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee has resisted any need to raise interest rates, despite the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation increasing to 3.3% in November.
The UK’s official level of inflation has now been running above the [...]
Interest rates to “normalise” at around 5%
The UK’s homeowners should begin to prepare for higher interest rates, a Bank of England official has warned.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the bank’s executive director for markets, Paul Fisher, stated that rates need to return to a “normalised” position of around 5%.
Mr Fisher, who is a member of the Bank’s rate-setting Monetary [...]
CBI: higher mortgage payments in 2011
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is predicting that the base rate will begin “rising gently” in the Spring, to hit 2.75% by the end of 2012.
Higher mortgage payments are therefore named as a factor in keeping household spending flat next year, showing a rise of only 0.9% in 2011, and 1.2% in 2012.
The industry [...]
