LATEST INTEREST RATE RISES:
Thursday Jul 5th, 2007
The Bank of England (BoE) has today raised the base rate another 1/4% to 5.75%, which is the highest it’s been since March, 2001 and is the fifth rise in 12 months.
Thursday May 10th, 2007
The Bank of England (BoE) has today raised the base rate another 1/4% to 5.5%.
Thursday Jan 11th, 2007
The Bank of England (BoE) has today raised the base rate another 1/4% to 5.25%, which is the highest it’s been for 5 1/2 years. This means someone with a £100,000 repayment mortgage will pay on average, an extra £16 per month.
Thursday Nov 9th, 2006
Householders face higher mortgage repayments as the Bank of England today raised interest rates to 5%. This is their highest point since August 2001 and come amid evidence that more households are folding under the strain of higher overheads, such as council tax bills and energy prices.
Many households will face paying an extra £20 – £30 extra each month on their mortgage repayments and with the added pressure of higher household bill overheads and rising unemployment, millions of people will really feel the strain.
Businesses across the country had called for no change, saying companies will be badly affected. They had pointed to a recent downturn in High Street spending as a sign that shoppers were already having to be cautious.
Many City analysts think this will not be the last increase in rates – they say another is quite likely in the New Year. “This move was widely expected, but the key question is whether we see another rise early next year,” Capital Economics’ Vicky Redwood said.
“Either way, with interest rates 0.5% higher than six months ago, it could be a contributing factor to deterring people from entering the housing market over the next few months.”
The answer for households is simple – either reduce their current lifestyle or increase their income. Most people have less than £50 per week disposable income so the opportunity for them to earn an extra £200 – £300 per month in their spare time will becoming increasingly attractive.
“I believe that starting a part-time home based business is a great solution to many people’s financial worries. With Kleeneze for example, you can earn that much needed £50 per week straight away and also have the option of building a secure business which, in the future can replace job insecurity. Some less obvious benefits include personal development, financial education, tax relief and the flexibility to work around other work or family commitments.” — Paul Flintoft
Source includes BBC News and Times Online.