Bank of England

The Bank of England held rates at 4.75% in December which was expected. However, some are predicting that there could be a 0.25% cut at the next meeting in February.

This was supported by the news that the annual rate of inflation slowed in December. However, despite reducing from 2.6% to 2.5% annually, it is still above the Bank’s 2% target, which will be a key consideration at the next Monetary Committee meeting.

A major bank has predicted six rate cuts by the Bank of England. Santander also forecast four base rate cuts in 2025. Although these may be seen as aggressive predictions, the general consensus is that the rate will fall, it’s just a case of by how much and when.

Mortgage Rates

Although January positively with lenders such as Halifax and HSBC cutting rates, generally speaking rates have increased since.

Prices for average fixed rates have continued to rise due to uncertainty surrounding the future of interest rates pricing.

Although there were some cuts, generally lenders have increased their rates by 0.13% – 0.45%.

The good news is that the more competitive rates are still just over 4%.

Although mortgage rates aren’t directly linked to changes in the Bank Base Rate, they are affected by predictions. Hopefully, the positive predictions around base rate cuts will filter through to mortgage rates sooner rather than later so that we can look forward to sub 4% products again.