Mortgage Rate Rises

[mattyfez]

BoE have held interest rates rather than a further reduction, not really unexpected I guess.

Interest rates and Bank Rate: our latest decision

Bank Rate affects other interest rates in the economy – we use this as a tool to keep inflation stable

www.bankofengland.co.uk

 

[jaybee]

The voting was 5 to 4 in favour of holding so we nearly got a cut to 3.5%.
I keep reading that the housing market is dead. The job market is dead. Maybe we will have to have further cuts later in 2026.

 

[Hagar]

The voting was 5 to 4 in favour of holding so we nearly got a cut to 3.5%.
I keep reading that the housing market is dead. The job market is dead. Maybe we will have to have further cuts later in 2026.

Mortgage rate cuts wont necessarily sell more houses. Jobs will but maybe that horse has run due to the budgets.

 

[413x]

The voting was 5 to 4 in favour of holding so we nearly got a cut to 3.5%.
I keep reading that the housing market is dead. The job market is dead. Maybe we will have to have further cuts later in 2026.

Feels like a lot of negative factors are floating around at the moment.
I know the news etc always promotes negative stories. But I'm not aware of many people who are feeling in a better place now vs a few years ago. House prices, salary, stocks... They all seem flat at best.

 

[BUDFORCE]

Yup interest rate cuts are generally a bad sign, despite how people go "yay cheaper mortgages".

(Not a wealthy boomer)

Actually a lot of lenders have put up their rates a little, we have.

That being said we are reasonably busy at the moment which is unusual for this time of year, normally doesn't really start picking up to maybe April, slight summer lul and then it goes ******* ape **** come about mid September.

We'll see I guess.

 

[ci_newman]

Feels like a lot of negative factors are floating around at the moment.
I know the news etc always promotes negative stories. But I'm not aware of many people who are feeling in a better place now vs a few years ago. House prices, salary, stocks... They all seem flat at best.

You need to step away from the doom and gloom news stories. There is a lot of signs of an economic recovery for the UK:

Are UK consumers about to rediscover their mojo?

The pieces are falling into place, but are not quite there yet

www.ft.com

UK manufacturing growth accelerates as export orders rise

Greater optimism in PMI survey, adding to signs Bank of England will keep interest rates on hold this week

www.theguardian.com

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-02/uk-chiefs-confidence-jumps-in-latest-sign-of-economic-momentum

UK government borrowing falls to £11.6bn in December

Official figures better than expected after record-breaking receipts for the month of December

www.theguardian.com

 

[Rob_B]

This is the only analysis that matters - Very important financial analysis

 

[Semple]

Feels like a lot of negative factors are floating around at the moment.
I know the news etc always promotes negative stories. But I'm not aware of many people who are feeling in a better place now vs a few years ago. House prices, salary, stocks... They all seem flat at best.

Not sure where you build that opinion on. House prices have still gradually increased over the last 3 years, we might not have had the sharp inclines seen in previous decades, but typically the average house has increased in value.

Similarly the FTSE100 is booming the last few years, similarly the S&P500 did a big jump once Trump took presidency, albeit has had a bit of a bumpy road since. VWRP is up 12% in the last year alone.

 

[Semple]

Yup interest rate cuts are generally a bad sign, despite how people go "yay cheaper mortgages".

(Not a wealthy boomer)

Actually a lot of lenders have put up their rates a little, we have.

That being said we are reasonably busy at the moment which is unusual for this time of year, normally doesn't really start picking up to maybe April, slight summer lul and then it goes ******* ape **** come about mid September.

We'll see I guess.

For most people who have to service a large debt, a drop in interest rates is much more favourable. I've not ploughed every penny I have into my mortgage, as frankly I believe the returns from major indexes will return much more value over 20 years than I would get back from putting everything into paying off my mortgage ASAP. But I would much rather dip back to a 2% interest on my mortgage, than take 5% on a cash ISA.

 

[EvilRob]

Not sure where you build that opinion on. House prices have still gradually increased over the last 3 years, we might not have had the sharp inclines seen in previous decades, but typically the average house has increased in value.

Similarly the FTSE100 is booming the last few years, similarly the S&P500 did a big jump once Trump took presidency, albeit has had a bit of a bumpy road since. VWRP is up 12% in the last year alone.

House prices are down in real terms over the last few years.
FTSE 100 reflects mostly globally operating companies.

Neither are positive signs for the UK economy.

 

[Hagar]

For most people who have to service a large debt, a drop in interest rates is much more favourable. I've not ploughed every penny I have into my mortgage, as frankly I believe the returns from major indexes will return much more value over 20 years than I would get back from putting everything into paying off my mortgage ASAP. But I would much rather dip back to a 2% interest on my mortgage, than take 5% on a cash ISA.

There are more savers than borrowers, a balance has to be struck. A 2% or less base right feels too low for equity.

 

[EvilRob]

You need to step away from the doom and gloom news stories. There is a lot of signs of an economic recovery for the UK:

Are UK consumers about to rediscover their mojo?

The pieces are falling into place, but are not quite there yet

www.ft.com

UK manufacturing growth accelerates as export orders rise

Greater optimism in PMI survey, adding to signs Bank of England will keep interest rates on hold this week

www.theguardian.com

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-02/uk-chiefs-confidence-jumps-in-latest-sign-of-economic-momentum

UK government borrowing falls to £11.6bn in December

Official figures better than expected after record-breaking receipts for the month of December

www.theguardian.com

These are all basically "things might be pointing to slightly less bad than they were"

 

[ChrisD.]

Anyone with a Nationwide mortgage who has recently renewed? If so, when and where can you see the available offers? Our 5 year term ends in June (1.5%!) so keen to see what they're offering. LTV is ~48%.

 

[mid_gen]

We sold our house in September 2025 and have been renting since. We nearly bought another property with a 23-year mortgage but pulled back late on after questioning the long-term commitment.

We’ve now found a house we like that we could buy outright with no mortgage and have made an asking-price cash offer.

Has anyone else chosen mortgage-free over taking on long-term debt, and how did it work out for you?

Im 33 BTW so could definitely take on a mortgage but I want to retire in 5-7 years.

I'm mortgage free at the moment. Moving soon though, could get a decent upgrade with cash, but we're gonna take on a mortgage as we have decent incomes and really a mortgage is a retirement asset as much as anything else....probably gonna take on a 20 year 100-150k if the right house comes up....but where we're looking it's possible we could land something without needing a mortgage, but tbh I'd rather keep my savings and take on the debt....it's more useful to me.

You'll never be able to borrow money cheaper than when it's secured against a house. Worth bearing in mind. Even if I can only get the same return on savings as the mortgage, I'd rather have the debt and the cash, than no debt and no cash, for the forseeable anyway.

 

[DB_SamX]

Given the news today suggested that rates are more likely to drop than not later in the year, does it make sense to take a tracker?

I'm on 30% LTV, looking to remortgage by end of this month £100k ish, over 10 years, sticking with HSBC

Options are:
3.94% fixed for 2 years with no fee
3.67% for 2 years with £1k fee
3.89% tracker for 2 years with £1k fee.

I have used a mortgage comparison spreadsheet that has allowed me to compare various parameters e.g. capital left after 2 years, or total paid after 2 years, which I am still undecided on. On the other hand, I can only assume in 3 months the tracker is likely to drop by 0.25% assuming rates drop, with will take it below the fixed...am I missing anything with the latter, other than risk of rates rising in a year or so?

 

[unwashed potato!]

Given the news today suggested that rates are more likely to drop than not later in the year, does it make sense to take a tracker?

I'm on 30% LTV, looking to remortgage by end of this month £100k ish, over 10 years, sticking with HSBC

Options are:
3.94% fixed for 2 years with no fee
3.67% for 2 years with £1k fee
3.89% tracker for 2 years with £1k fee.

I have used a mortgage comparison spreadsheet that has allowed me to compare various parameters e.g. capital left after 2 years, or total paid after 2 years, which I am still undecided on. On the other hand, I can only assume in 3 months the tracker is likely to drop by 0.25% assuming rates drop, with will take it below the fixed...am I missing anything with the latter, other than risk of rates rising in a year or so?

i am looking at the same thing.

that tracker is only one drop of 0.25% to then match the fixed rate. and further drops and it's lower. i wish i had gone tracker last time as i was/am on 5.14 or something stupid like that, but now i see rates have all come down, i don't feel the drop will be as big over the next 2 years.

however just one drop and i'm already the same as what a fixed rate would be...

 

[EvilRob]

Given the news today suggested that rates are more likely to drop than not later in the year, does it make sense to take a tracker?

I'm on 30% LTV, looking to remortgage by end of this month £100k ish, over 10 years, sticking with HSBC

Options are:
3.94% fixed for 2 years with no fee
3.67% for 2 years with £1k fee
3.89% tracker for 2 years with £1k fee.

I have used a mortgage comparison spreadsheet that has allowed me to compare various parameters e.g. capital left after 2 years, or total paid after 2 years, which I am still undecided on. On the other hand, I can only assume in 3 months the tracker is likely to drop by 0.25% assuming rates drop, with will take it below the fixed...am I missing anything with the latter, other than risk of rates rising in a year or so?

Why all the hand wringing and consideration of taking on risk (the tracker could go up too) over such a tiny potential benefit in rates? 5 year fix.

 

[ci_newman]

Anyone with a Nationwide mortgage who has recently renewed? If so, when and where can you see the available offers? Our 5 year term ends in June (1.5%!) so keen to see what they're offering. LTV is ~48%.

Four months. I've got a renewal with Nationwide coming in June too and recently tried to look at renewing and was told I had to wait until 4 months out.

 

[Freakbro]

Average house price tops £300,000 for the first time!

Average house price tops £300,000 for first time, says Halifax

Halifax describes the figure as a "milestone", but potentially daunting for first-time buyers.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[molinari]

We're with Nationwide, on a 5yr fixed at 1.19% ending at the end of August. 8 years left currently, with LTV at 13.5%. I guess I'll starting looking around April time.