Lee Hopley, director, economic insight and research, UK Finance said there is no certainty of an interest rate rise tomorrow up from its record of 0.1 per cent, speaking at today’s Mortgage and Protection Event in Salford.
Policymakers have suggested a move may be imminent, but it is unclear whether the move will come tomorrow or in mid-December.
Hopley said it did feel very evenly balanced. “There are people on that committee who have never voted for a rate rise,” she added.
The market has priced in a rise to 1.25-1.5 per cent by 2023, she said.
Markets are uncertain about the timing, with analysts suggesting the vote is likely to be split. Some BoE policymakers, such as Governor Andrew Bailey and renowned hawk Michael Saunders, have hinted that they could back an immediate hike, while others have seemed more reluctant.
Hopley said this was still far away from the mortgage rates we were currently looking at. “A lot of people have been through university and their whole working lives and have never seen interest rates of one per cent, so the psychological impact of a rate rise is going to be interesting,” she said.
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
