Will Interest Rate Cuts Hit The High Street?

Posted on October 14, 2008
Filed Under Finance | Leave a Comment

I was wrong, last week when the Bank of England announced the interest rate cut I was convinced it would not make a difference to UK high street interest rates. However there have already been a few mortgage providers reacting to the announcement by reducing their rates also. Of course any new interest rates introduced by mortgage providers will not come into effect until January 1st 2008. So unfortunately you won’t see any actual savings until you’re mortgage payment at the end of January 2008 is made.

If you have a £100,000 mortgage you should see the 0.25 per cent interest rate reduction add an extra £15 to £20 to your pocket every month. If you’re on a fixed rate mortgage of course you’re tied into the lenders rate for the period of the offer.

Only two UK lenders have actually confirmed they’re reducing their Standard Variable Rates by 0.25 per cent, keeping their reductions in-line with the base rate reductions. At least this is a good sign; mortgage lenders seem willing to pass on rate reductions to the high street. It’s also a good sign that maybe things aren’t quite as bad as the media made out when the credit crunch hit Northern Rock Bank. I wouldn’t expect every bank or building society to follow suit but it does indicate that the banks can afford to relax a little.

Hopefully this will bring a more stable economy for the New Year. The Government and Bank of England need to keep a close eye on retail, manufacturing, property and the overall affect these markets have on inflation and consumer confidence.

Simon Duffy writes for the Financial Blog a UK Finance Blog talking about all aspects of personal finance.

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