Townends Estate Agents Reacts to Bank of England Decision to Cut Base Rate to 0.25%

August 5, 2016
bank of england interest rate

Yesterday, the Bank of England made its first interest rate cut for more than seven years, slashing its base rate from its already historic low of 0.5%, which it has held since March 2009, to 0.25%. It is a move aimed at stimulating the economy after Britain voted to leave the EU in the referendum on June 23.

 As a result, homeowners are now being offered the cheapest ever mortgage deals. Rates on popular two, five and ten-year fixed rate deals have all fallen to record lows, in a boost to millions of borrowers. 

According to analysis from financial research firm Moneyfacts, the average rate on a two-year fixed rate mortgage has fallen to 2.48 per cent – the cheapest on record. This is down from 4.27 per cent five years ago and 2.68 per cent a year ago.  The fall in mortgage rates has dramatically cut the monthly mortgage bills for millions of households. 

 Those on ‘tracker’ mortgages – where the interest rate automatically goes up and down with the Bank rate – will also benefit from today’s rate cut.  Someone with a 25-year £250,000 repayment tracker mortgage paying two per cent interest will now see their monthly £1,100 repayment fall by around £30.

 “We have seen many first-time buyers already benefiting from low mortgage rates and being able to enter the market, and a drop in rates will provide an additional boost for those who have been sitting on the fence and holding off making a property purchase decision,” said Séamus Kavanagh, CEO, Townends Estate Agents. “We welcome the Bank of England’s well timed decision and see this as a positive move to support the housing market generally and we envisage seeing a steady improvement in transaction volumes on the back of today’s interest rate announcement.”   

townends.co.uk

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove asks government to carefully consider property tax changes

The UK’s largest property platform Rightmove is asking the government to carefully consider the impact of any changes to property taxation to avoid unintended consequences which would risk stalling parts of the market. Key data National property tax Just under a third (30%) of homes for sale in England are priced at over £500,000, and…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

Get Fast and Reliable Basement Flood Cleaning Services

Having water in your basement is awful. It could be because of a storm, busted pipe, or bad sump pump. Whatever the reason, water damage in your basement has disastrous effects if not dealt with. Basement Flood Cleaning Services are what you need. They will dry it out, disinfect the floor, and have your basement…
Read More →
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 21/08/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Providing comprehensive, predictive operational intelligence across all aspects of building operations  JLL (NYSE: JLL) this week introduced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that are now available as an add-on to Prism, its award-winning building operations platform. As part of JLL’s property management technology ecosystem powered by…
Read More →
Breaking News

UK House Price Index summary: June 2025

The average monthly rate of house price growth in June was 1.4%. The average annual rate of house price growth in June was 3.7%, up from 2.7% in May. As a result, the average UK house price remains at £269,000.   CEO of Yopa, Verona Frankish, commented: “June’s figures reflect a market that is steadily…
Read More →
Breaking News

Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2025

Average UK monthly private rents increased by 5.9%, to £1,343, in the 12 months to July 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 6.7% in the 12 months to June 2025. Average rents increased to £1,398 (6.0%) in England, £807 (7.9%) in Wales, and £999 (3.6%) in Scotland, in the 12 months…
Read More →
Breaking News

Industry response to latest inflation figures

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments: “Unfortunately, any increase seen within the rate of inflation does brings very justified concerns to consumers, many of whom are still struggling with the cost of living, which has been steadily rising over the past few years. “Although there is more work to be done to help ensure inflation…
Read More →