The week of the December meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has arrived. The meeting will be held on the Thursday, 15th, and will likely end with another increase to the standard base interest rate. The MPC has raised the rate during each of the last eight consecutive meetings and it now sits at 3.0%. December 2022 is expected to end with the base rate at 3.5% which is remarkably higher than it was last December when the rate was first hiked from an all-time low of almost zero at 0.1%.

When the rate first increased, it did little to discourage home buyers. It caused many to rush to buy to take advantage of the then current rates offered by lenders. Doing so has saved those new homeowners thousands of pounds if they chose a fixed interest rate. However, the UK housing market is slowly cooling off as interest rates have caused affordability issues and some buyers are no longer within reach of home ownership.

Homeowners that chose to remortgage in those early days of rising interest rates will have also saved substantially if they, too, chose to secure their new interest rate with a fixed rate remortgage deal.

Despite higher rates now being offered by lenders, it is still not at the top of what is expected. In the coming year, as inflation growth continues, the MPC could push the base rate to 5.0%, according to experts, or it could be even higher. At one time, it was predicted the base rate would need to reach 8.0% before inflation was under control. Even at an expected 5.0%, the rate has further increases to endure if it ends the year at 3.5%.

While it might be too late for those that would like to secure a mortgage or remortgage deal at current rates before the MPC meeting, the next meeting of the MPC is scheduled for February. That offers plenty of time for hopeful home buyers to shop properties and mortgage deals. Homeowners have the opportunity to shop for deals with a remortgage and secure their own savings against higher rates before the first 2023 meeting of the MPC.

It is quick and easy to shop for a remortgage online. The simplest way to shop is to visit a remortgage broker website. Since brokers work with many lenders at one time to help a homeowner shop among the best offers, it is a one stop online shopping experience. In a matter of minutes, several quotes from a variety of lenders could be in hand to review and compare. Brokers often have exclusive deals available from lenders which are not offered directly to borrowers. Of course, a homeowner could also shop by going from one remortgage lender website to another to gather quotes to review.

The ability to remortgage at current rates has pushed some homeowners to adopt the strategy of choosing to accept a penalty fee to end their mortgage term early. They can then remortgage with current offered interest rates rather than face possible higher interest rates when their term was due to end.

The MPC is expected to raise the base rate by 0.5% this Thursday, but it could be even higher as they review the current economic data. Inflation was expected to come under some control and limit spending, but with the holidays approaching, consumers could have pushed spending and kept inflation thriving and climbing.

No matter the results of Thursday’s MPC meeting, it is important that homeowners take action and prepare for the impact of further strains on their household budget in the year ahead. Inflation is going to be around for a while, higher energy costs will continue and cause financial strains as colder winter days set in, and interest rates are going to climb further. Rather than pay more than necessary, a remortgage could offer savings, a safety net against further rate hikes, and peace of mind for those seeking financial relief wherever it can be found.