The Bank of England base rate has increased steeply from 0.25% in January 2022 to 4.25% in March 2023. More than 4 million UK households now have significantly higher mortgage costs as a result, while also dealing with the impact of soaring prices for other items such as food and energy.
This pain will only continue as those households that secured low fixed rates before the recent rake hikes start to roll off their current mortgage deals in the coming months and years. But Bank of England data shows that many UK borrowers expect rates to fall back to recent lows again by 2027. Signals from central banks, continued rising inflation and a relatively improved economic picture, however, mean that such expectations are unlikely to be met any time soon, if ever.
