The Bank of England (BoE) has announced that it will be holding the base rate at 5% for the coming month.

This is the third consecutive month that the base rate has been held at 5%. A cut in the base rate had always been doubtful, especially with inflation hitting 3.3% in June. As the economy slows and inflation continues to rise, the prospect of a cut in the coming months is becoming increasingly unlikely. This news is unlikely to offer homeowners any respite as they continue to struggle with higher mortgage and living costs.

Neil Chegwidden, head of residential research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: “We are unsurprised that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept the base rate on hold at 5% today. Faced with the rarity of considering a cut, a rise and a hold, the sensible and balanced action was always going to be to hold. However, decision making may become more difficult for the MPC in the coming months as both inflation worries and economic deterioration escalate. Whatever the decision today it was never going to have a notable positive impact on a housing market which is suffering under weak turnover, a steady fall in prices and a torrent of poor housebuilder news.”