Not all "doom and gloom" for borrowers

The Bank of England’s decision to maintain Base Rate at 5.50% may, on the face of it, appear to be a blow to borrowers and any hopes they had of a reduction in monthly outgoings dashed for at least another month.

However, as Gary Brook of Leeds Building Society explains, it is not all "doom and gloom" . Gary says, "The majority of mortgage customers have a fixed rate mortgage and, therefore, any change in rate would have had no impact.

"New borrowers, and those remortgaging, are already benefiting from cheaper fixed rate mortgage products as swap rates, which are currently around 0.55%* lower than this time last year, have already factored in potential decreases in base rate.

"This is also good news for the large numbers of borrowers coming to the end of their existing fixed rate deal and will minimise any payment shock."

*2 Year Annual Swap Rate is 5.08% as at 11 January 2008 compared to 5.64% a year ago