2nd November 2017

First Interest Rate Rise by the B O E in 10 Years Announced Today!

The Bank of England has voted to raise interest rates for the first time in more than a decade, with many predicting this will signal the start of a series of gradual increases.

Will this be a good thing for your business, and/or the economy in general is the question we all would like an answer to.

Read more about the rise in the base rate here.

The rate, which anchors millions of British mortgages and savings accounts and governs the cost of borrowing, will increase to 0.5%, a rise of 0.25 percentage points.

The City will be looking for more signals from the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) for signals on future moves. Those minutes suggest the rise is “one and done”, though the MPC signalled further increases in coming years. It explained the decision in the context of weaker than predicted growth in the UK economy. The nine-member committee voted by 7 to 2 to tighten monetary policy and introduce a rise.

The increase could cost some variable rate mortgage holders as much as £200 a year, according to MoneySavingExpert.com.

But for the first time in many years, most people are not on a variable rate mortgage. More home owners are on fixed-rate deals, unaffected by short-term changes.