The Bank of England decides on rates again on 30 July, and the base rate has sat at 3.75% while everyone waits to see if August brings a cut.
Twenty years of investing in property has taught me to hold these decisions more loosely than the headlines want me to. I've watched plenty of people delay a purchase or a remortgage waiting for the perfect rate, and the honest truth is that the quarter-point they were waiting for rarely changed the deal. What changed the deal was whether the numbers worked at the rate they could actually get that day.
Plenty of buyers will agonise over 0.15% on a fix and skate straight past the arrangement fee, the term, and whether the thing is still affordable if rates move against them. The visible number feels like the decision. It almost never is.
Fixed rates have edged up again this month on the back of what's happening overseas, not on anything the Bank has done. That's worth sitting with. A lot of what moves your mortgage isn't set in Threadneedle Street at all.
So if you're weighing a move, stress-test the deal at a rate higher than today's and see if it still stands up. If it does, the exact base rate on 30 July matters a good deal less than the noise suggests.
Co-founder of Propalt and a property investor and developer for 20 years
