Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, says:
“The fact that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has now held interest rates at the record low of 0.5% for 35 months has been overshadowed somewhat by the news that it is to increase its Quantitative Easing (QE) programme as it bids to stave off a recession. This latest £50bn injection was widely predicted despite the fact that leading indicators for theUKin January have returned positive findings and inflation has been coming down.
“The UK is directly affected by what happens in the eurozone and with the money supply in the UK still weak some economists have been calling for even more QE if the fallout becomes worse.
This latest round should reduce borrowing costs, and with rates again held at 0.5% could end up providing a boost to mortgage borrowers. If the recent increase in the number of 95% LTV deals starts to be taken up by first-time buyers this should mean a positive outcome for the housing market.”
The Wriglesworth Consultancy 