Commenting on the MPC’s decision not to change the Bank Rate from 3.75%, Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage and Housing Policy at the Building Societies Association (BSA) said: 

"With half of aspiring first-time buyers saying mortgage affordability is a barrier to getting on the property ladder¹, many would have been hoping for a further rate cut today. But the solution doesn’t lie in the rate alone. Building societies offer a range of innovative and flexible mortgages that are already helping more people into homeownership.

”We would urge all aspiring first-time buyers not to wait solely for further Bank Rate cuts, but to speak to a lender or mortgage adviser about the options available to them now. For many owning a home may be a more realistic aspiration than they realise.”  

¹ Property Tracker 
 

About the BSA

The Building Societies Association (BSA) represents all 42 UK building societies, as well as two mutual-owned banks and 7 credit unions. Building societies and mutual-owned banks have total assets of almost £680 billion. They hold residential mortgages of almost £495 billion, 29% of the total outstanding in the UK. They also hold over £495 billion of retail deposits, accounting for 23% of all such deposits in the UK. Building societies and mutual-owned banks account for 46% of all cash ISA balances.

Building societies employ around 52,300 full and part-time staff and operate through approximately 1,300* branches, a 35% share of branches across the UK.