The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today announced that the Base Rate will remain unchanged at 5%. It was not that long ago that we were expecting a further cut in interest rates: now there is a strong possibility that the next move will be upwards as the Bank tries to rein back inflation.

After several gloomy months when rates on new mortgages have continued to edge higher, there is welcome news that a few lenders have reduced some fixed and tracker rates in recent days.

While it is too early to say that the market has turned, these are encouraging signs and we continue to work closely with lenders to develop competitively-priced products for our clients. SPF has a number of shared exclusives now available and we hope to add more in coming weeks

(July 2008)