With the Bank of England maintaining base rate – as expected – at 5.25 per cent, the broker community ends 2023 in a more optimistic mood than many forecast.

Peter Stokes, director at broker Davidson Deem, says: “The consensus now is that the base rate has peaked and the focus is increasingly on when the first cut will be. It’s shaping up to be in 2024 but the next set of inflation data will influence the exact timing.”

Jack Tutton, director at S J Mortgages, comments: “This will be welcome news to business and mortgage holders, especially as potentially up to 1.6 million people are coming to the end of their mortgage deal in 2024. Mortgage lenders are battling it out to be top of the best buy tables.”

Emma Jones, managing director at Whenthebanksaysno, adds: “This was the right decision, especially for borrowers right before Christmas. We are eager to see stability in the mortgage and property markets in 2024 and a chance for borrowers to settle into the new norm of higher rates.”

Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages, states: “For those with tracker mortgages there will be no changes, but for those looking to renew their mortgage products over the coming months we should see more fixed rate cuts over the next few months given how the money market will react to this hold position. However, we always need to watch inflation figures and other worldwide factors such as fuel costs, as we have seen before how quickly rates can change for the worse and can wipe out much of the good work.”

Richard Thompson of Abbeydale Mortgages notes: “An interesting trend I have observed among my clients is their increasing adaptability to higher interest rates. Many are proactively budgeting for potential mortgage payment increases when their current interest rates expire. This financial preparedness is a positive sign of borrowers becoming more resilient in navigating fluctuations in interest rates.”