Bank of England's decision to pause interest rate hikes this month is affecting mortgage holders, who are being told there's 'no time to delay' to secure a better deal. The Monetary Policy Committee maintains interest rates at 5.25 percent, which is currently giving lenders confidence to keep lowering rates. There's 'no guarantee' that the bank won't raise interest rates any further. Thomas Jackson, managing director of mortgage broker Cooper Associates Mortgages, said: 'It's no time to delay. The decision to reduce the Base Rate and the better-than-expected inflation during the day before is very likely we will see some reductions from lenders. I imagine this will happen over the next few weeks, rather than months, he said. A 0.25 percent increase was very much anticipated by lenders ahead of the Bank of England's decision on Thursday.
Jackson said that this was the case until Wednesday's inflation news. Following the unexpected drop in July to 6.7 percent in August, lenders have 'felt confident' to lower their rates. In just a short space of four weeks, Jackson said that swap rates, which are used to price mortgages, have decreased by nearly 0.6 percent for two and five-year swaps. Greg Marsh, CEO of household money-saving tool Nous.co, pointed out that while the decision to keep interest rates frozen provides some relief for mortgage holders, there's no guarantee that the Bank of England won't raise interest rates further and that they're still 'punishingly high'.
He added: 'S news on interest rates doesn't change the fact that they're going to see their monthly payments rocket by thousands of pounds a year. ''The Bank of England will never raise interest rates further, if steep wage growth and high inflation continue, '' said a spokeswoman. Households looking for a new mortgage are in a tough situation and need to weigh up how much they are willing to gamble on rates falling next year. Competition among banks has surged in recent weeks, and Tim Leonard, personal finance specialist at NerdWallet UK, said: Now they appear to have the platform to carry on vying for the attention of borrowers.
Rethinking your remortgage options, having a fixed rate now may be an option to consider. 's expiry date gets even nearer, and opt for a better deal if available. re looking for a mortgage that best suits your circumstances overall, Leonard said. In short, this may not necessarily be the mortgage with the lowest rate.