Access FS comment on BoE rate: “Yet another crack in the machine”- Wilkinson

20 June 2024

Please find below comment from Access FS on the BoE’s decision to hold the base rate at 5.25%.

Karl Wilkinson, CEO of Access Financial Services, said: “At 5.25%, the Bank of England (BoE) base rate remains at its highest level in 15 years. The impact of the delay in the BoE lowering interest rates will be devastating, or at least frustrating, for the masses of potential first-time buyers and mortgage brokers who have been waiting for Godot on an interest rate reduction since it hit 5.25% in August 2023.

“Unfortunately, though, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) wouldn’t want to be perceived as politicking with the General Election weeks away. It is ironic that in trying to avoid politicking, it is in fact politics that has influenced their decision not to start lowering base rates before the summer. This demonstrates yet another crack in the machine.”