Birmingham developer welcomes Bank of England base rate hold at 4%

James Costello, managing director of Elevate Property Group, based in Birmingham, said the BoE Monetary Policy Committee’s decision should give “some level of certainty” to the housing market.

He made clear, however, that today’s interest rate news was “just the starter” before the “main course” of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget at the end of November.

“Today’s decision gives us some level of certainty. It should give lenders and buyers a degree of confidence that could be the difference between property sales progressing or not," James said.

“But interest rates are just the starter – the main course is the Budget at the end of this month.

“Rachel Reeves raising taxes is not going to help anyone, including her, but if more tax rises are inevitable, then she needs to balance that market-depressing action with something that stimulates the economy, too.

“It’s a fine balancing act. Let’s hope she gets it right this time.”

The BoE’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee today voted five to four to keep the rate unchanged at 4%.

Minutes of the MPC’s discussion on whether it should cut the base rate can be seen here.

According to the BoE, the current inflation rate is sitting at 3.8%, above the bank’s target of 2%.

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said: “We held interest rates at 4% today. We still think rates are on a gradual path downwards, but we need to be sure that inflation is on track to return to our 2% target before we cut them again.”