The standard base interest rate has once more been held to the historic low rate of 0.5% as the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to leave the rate untouched for another month.  The May meeting of the MPC also resulted in a vote to stay at the current level of quantitative easing (QE) with the QE currently at £375 billion.  The last time the QE was increased was in July 2012 and the base rate has sat at its current level since March 2009.

Ben Thompson, managing director with Legal & General Mortgage Club remarked, “Recently we have seen major announcements designed to stimulate the housing market in the shape of Funding for Lending scheme and Help to Buy. Debate continues as to how effective they will turn out to be but they seem set to provide a positive impact as the year progresses.

“Therefore, it is unsurprising in this environment of record low interest rates and set against a context of Government trying to help borrowers that the MPC has opted to keep the base rate unchanged.”

Mortgage rates are expected to remain cheap as borrowing continues to be offered from lenders with low interest rates.  Current schemes put in place by the government are helping to boost the housing market.  The Funding for Lending scheme is assisting lenders in offering cheap interest rates and the Help to Buy scheme is assisting borrowers get into newly constructed homes with deposit assistance.  Homeowners seeking a remortgage can also expect to find attractive interest rates from lenders.