The bank base rate will remain low for a while, Adrian Moloney, group sales director at OneSavings Bank has predicted.
Speaking at the Mortgage Vision event about the post-pandemic economy, Moloney said not to expect the base rate to go up “any time soon”.
He said in 2018, experts predicted rates to remain relatively low in 2020 at around 1.5 per cent but said the Bank of England had also pushed rates up to allow some cushioning in case of a rough Brexit.
However, Moloney added this went out of the window with the coronavirus pandemic.
Moloney pointed out that the low rate environment went across the mortgage market as despite being hedged against swap rates, fixed rates were also low and mortgages had “never been as cheap as they are today”.
Active housing market
Along with low rates and cheaper mortgages, the stamp duty holiday has “propelled” activity in the housing market which continues to be buoyant, Moloney said.
He added: “The average house price in the UK is worth £30,000 more than it was going into the lockdown.
“Which tells you this market is still moving, still bubbling and the stimulus of the stamp duty holiday has had the desired effect.”
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
