LiveMore comment on today's inflation: "consumers still struggling"

15 January 2025

Simon Webb, managing director of capital markets and finance at LiveMore, commented: “The industry – not to mention Rachel Reeves - will welcome today’s surprising news of a drop in headline inflation in December. At 2.5% it’s closer to the Bank’s 2% sweet spot which it touched on for a moment in September last year. The markets are, however, in some flux, so the drop in inflation doesn’t necessarily equate to a drop in the Bank Rate come February.

“Many consumers will still be struggling with higher energy bills, which are likely to push the headline inflation rate higher over the coming months until it drops off in the second half of 2025. The good news for people aged 50 to 90 years plus - who might ordinarily have very limited mortgage options especially in these conditions - is that on the market today there is a much wider range of products developed specifically for them including standard, retirement and equity release options to help with areas such as debt consolidation and to provide drawdown facilities if that’s right for them.”