BoE base rate reduction.

financialbliss

The Bank of England MPC today announced a base rate cut of 0.5% to 1.5% - the lowest ever in it’s 315 year history.

According to BBC, the UK mortgage market is split up between about 51% on fixed rates, about 40% on tracker or discounted variable and less than 10% on standard variable rate:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7711689.stm

Are these base rate cuts aiding in your efforts to become mortgage free?

Personally, they’re not helping me at all, as I’m on a fixed rate until 2011.

Curious to see if the BBC stats are also reflected here…

Note: I've kept the poll simple to reflect the 3 main types of mortgage that the BBC article is reporting, ie I've ignored mortgages with collars, which I originally was going to include as another "No" option.

Financial Bliss.

Mr_Pickwick

Hello FB

We are in the very fortunate position of having remortgaged in November 2007 to a C & B lifetime flexible tracker at 0.17% over base with no exit fees. Although I felt at the time that base rates had peaked, I never expected rates to fall to their current levels.

Having said all that, all the interest savings have been ploughed back into paying off the capital in true MFW fashion, so yes they are helping us become mortgage free.

davidreed113

Last July I managed to secure a tracker mortgage from the Halifax at .2% below base rate for 3 years. I am wondering if the BOE base rate falls to 0% will the Halifax owe me money every month?

steveeeee

We're stuck on a 5.29% fixed rate until June. I'm really looking forward to dropping onto the SVR and saving a few quid each month!

hughmungas1986

We on a Woolwich lifetime tracker with no collar ( none that I know of ) and these rate cuts are certainly benifitting us.

We started the mortgage in Jan of last year on 5.77% ( we are on 0.27% above the banks base rate ) and will be paying 2.27% this month 0.5% less next month. We pay £ 600 a month, with over £500 coming off the capital we owe. Keep the rates low, I want to pay my mortgage off quicker !!!

hugh

setmefree2

Woolwich lifetime tracker (no collar) Base + 0.57%:j

WestonDave

First Direct SVR which is now down to 3.69% pending any decision on yesterdays cut. It was tracking 1% over base but they widened that to 1.69% when the 1.5% came off - hopefully now they've spread the margin a bit they will continue to track down - 3.19% would be very nice considering there was no set up charge and its an offset.

co123456

Part of my MFW motivation was that on the 1st of June I was expecting to move to Northern Rock's SVR which was 7.34% (from a fixed 6.06%). Now NR's SVR is currently 5.34%, I'm quite looking forward to it. No major change for me except for possibly becomming more annoyed with some media outlets herralding the cut as a real help for those with mortgages when many of us are on fixed rates and couldn't care less. What is the % of people on fixed rate?

RoxieW

Our payments have dropped over £200 a month which is fantastic. We;re on a SVR but our mort provider (Kent reliance) has honoured every rate cut in full so far so cant fault them at all. Makes a change for someone not to be trying to shaft us left right and centre

Ed_Zep

Am on a BofE tracker +0.5% with Newcastle Building Society.

I never thought the rate would ever go this low when I remortgaged. Will use the money saved to increase my overpayments. I'd like to be mortgage free in 3-4 years.

For those of you on trackers, you may get a letter from your lender offering a fixed rate. That's what the Newcastle sent me recently. I don't think there's a collar on this mortgage and I think they're regretting it.

[Deleted User]

My fixed rate finished in the summer and i went onto a horrible SVR of 6.49%. Now it's 3.5%.. yay!

I didn't go onto a new rate as i had a bit of a feeling the rate was gonna drop.