David Prosser: Interest rate rises ahead?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Outlook Here's a worrying straw in the wind, at least if you're a mortgage borrower. Although the Bank of England's base rate has been stuck at 0.5 per cent since April, a clutch of lenders have in recent weeks raised their standard variable rates (the interest rates borrowers pay if they are not on a short-term fixed or tracker deal).
The lenders concerned are all small, but Moneyfacts, the personal finance analyst, believes the trend may soon take hold across the rest of the mortgage market. Banks and building societies, it warns, have been competing for savers' business, and raising the cost of mortgage borrowing is the only way to pay for that.
Once, mortgage borrowers continually switched between short-term deals, so SVRs weren't important, but with base rates so low, increasing numbers are now better off on these rates than they would be by remortgaging.
However, if SVRs are on the increase, the dynamic in the mortgage market may be about to change once again. And even without a Bank of England base rate rise – the betting is still that there will be no increase until the end of the year – higher home loan costs may be yet another threat to consumers' disposable income.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments