Pivotal few months in store for mortgage rates
The rate hold leaves the current picture unchanged for borrowers with tracker, discounted, and variable-rate mortgages – but Allen is keeping an eye on the months ahead.
“Attention will now turn to swaps, the future inflation outlook and, of course, the Budget next month and accompanying OBR forecast,” he said, “as the country waits to see what those might mean for households, the economy, and ultimately the mortgage market.”
On the buy-to-let front, meanwhile, Fleet Mortgages chief commercial officer Steve Cox cautioned against assuming the hold won’t impact rates.
“For the buy-to-let mortgage market, today’s hold certainly should not be interpreted as meaning product rates will stand still, because lenders have already had to respond to higher swap rates and funding costs over recent weeks,” he said.
“Mortgage pricing has effectively been moving ahead of the MPC [Monetary Policy Committee], although the need for some lenders to build business volumes during the remainder of 2026 could provide some counterweight to those funding pressures.”
