UK inflation has fallen from 2.3% to 2.0%, which has led some to call for an interest rate cut at the next Bank of England meeting on Thursday, 20 June.
In March, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said “we are on the way” to interest rate cuts. But there has been speculation that a rate cut may not happen until September, in order to let the new General Election take place and for the new government to be established.
However, commenting on reports that the Bank of England may opt to hold interest rates this week, Paula Higgins, chief executive at the HomeOwners Alliance, says: “Inflation is no longer running at 10% - it’s at its 2% target. And yet the Bank of England continues to use it as an excuse to keep interest rates at the current 16-year high.
“We think it’s unacceptable that homeowners are held ransom by the Bank of England in this way. Signalling that rate cuts are on the horizon is not enough. We’ve been hearing that since March. Homeowners’ best-laid financial plans are on hold as they bear the brunt of the Bank of England’s monetary experiment. We cannot see any justification for this continuing.”