On March 17 the Bank of England increased base rates to 0.75% from 0.5% after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favour of a rise. This rate is used to charge other banks and lenders when they borrow money, influencing what borrowers pay and savers earn.
It was the third rise in a row after they were first lifted to 0.25% from 0.1% in December last year before being upped to 0.5% in February. It means that today, the cheapest mortgage deals are double what they were in October, according to the Money Saving Expert (MSE) website founded by Martin Lewis, which he later sold on.
In October there were more than 50 mortgage deals below 1%, while the cheapest fix was 0.84%. Today the cheapest is 1.79%, equating to an extra £800 a year on a £150,000 mortgage.
