The Bank of England has opted once again to hold the base rate at 5.25 per cent, a move which will reinforce the view we’ve reached the peak for interest rates.
The decision marks its second pause after the Monetary Policy Committee voted to hold the base rate in September. Prior to that, there had been 14 consecutive base rate hikes since December 2021.
The announcement will be met with a degree of relief among borrowers and disappointment among savers.
Higher mortgage rates have set house prices on a downward trajectory, although it is happening more slowly than expected.
The typical home is now worth £285,044, according to Halifax, which is 3 per cent – or £8,948 – lower than the £293,992 peak recorded in August last year.
The popular view is that the rapid rise in mortgage rates over the past year has dramatically reduced the amount people can afford to pay, meaning price falls will be inevitable.
However,
Homeowners racing to overpay their mortgage before their loan rate rises could be making a financial mistake costing them hundreds of pounds.
Overpayments allow mortgage holders to put additional cash towards their home loan to pay off the debt faster and reduce their loan size.
One in four homeowners have paid over and above their monthly mortgage costs this year, Barclays disclosed last month.
A record £6.7 billion was spent on mortgage overpayments in the first three months of this
Three more major mortgage lenders have announced they are slashing their rates.
NatWest, Halifax and Virgin Money will all be making cuts, effective from 2 August.
Most notably, those buying or remortgaging with NatWest
Almost a quarter of Britons would be happy to support a full ban on the sale of fake plastic lawns.
Having a fake lawn fitted can seem appealing to weary homeowners – it means no pushing the lawnmower around and a consistent appearance.
But Britons have been turning their back on fake grass in recent years, with research revealing that demand for fake lawn installations fell 48 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021.
More than half of households would
A third of adults in the UK have experienced a credit blip on their
House prices are expected to fall by 5 per cent over the coming year, with the gap in house price growth between the south of England and the rest of the country widening.
Price growth plummeted to just 0.6 per cent in the 12 months to June, according to Zoopla’s latest house price index, as higher mortgage rates lead to a sharp fall in demand.
In June last year, house price inflation was at 9.6 per cent.
Flat: Higher mortgage
If you are struggling to pay your mortgage bills as interest rates rise rapidly, our guide explains what you can do.
Mortgage rates have spiralled over the past month on the expectation that the Bank of England may have to push base rate all the way to 6 per cent to combat inflation.
But even before this rise, both fixed and variable rate mortgage costs were far higher than they have been in recent years.
This has come as interest
Millions of households are bracing themselves for mortgage pain as interest rates soar and monthly costs surge.
Homebuyers and homeowners looking for a new loan today face paying a rate above 6 per cent on a two-year fix — more than double average rates two years ago.
That means anyone taking out a two-year deal today on a typical £200,000 mortgage would pay an extra £65 a month compared with just four weeks ago and an extra £313 compared with
My husband and I had an offer accepted on a flat which seemed perfect for us. But the one catch is, its only form of outside space is an un-demised roof terrace.
The agent convinced us that the fact that it was un-demised means that it’s excluded from the price and that the flat would be a lot more expensive if it was demised.
Having raised it with our solicitor they have advised that we get the terrace officially included
