Mortgage rates increased at a record pace in 2022, with the 10-year fixed mortgage rate doubling between March 2022 and December 2022. With inflation increasing, the Bank of England introduced several bank rate hikes, resulting in higher mortgage rates. In May 2025, the average 10-year fixed rate interest rate reached **** percent. As borrowing costs get higher, demand for housing is expected to decrease, leading to declining market sentiment and slower house price growth. How have the mortgage hikes affected the market? After surging in 2021, the number of residential properties sold declined in 2023, reaching just above *** million. Despite the number of transactions falling, this figure was higher than the period before the COVID-19 pandemic. The falling transaction volume also impacted mortgage borrowing. Between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, the value of new mortgage loans fell year-on-year for five straight quarters in a row. How are higher mortgages affecting homebuyers? Homeowners with a mortgage loan usually lock in a fixed rate deal for two to ten years, meaning that after this period runs out, they need to renegotiate the terms of the loan. Many of the mortgages outstanding were taken out during the period of record-low mortgage rates and have since faced notable increases in their monthly repayment. About **** million homeowners are projected to see their deal expire by the end of 2026. About *** million of these loans are projected to experience a monthly payment increase of up to *** British pounds by 2026.

Mortgage Approvals in the United Kingdom increased to 64.17 Thousand in June from 63.29 Thousand in May of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Mortgage Approvals - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The value of buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage loans for property remortgaging in the UK was forecast to continue to increase in 2025, after plummeting in 2023. In 2023, buy-to-let mortgages originated for a property purchase amounted to ************ British pounds, while remortgage originations totaled ** billion British pounds. By 2026, mortgage lending for purchases was forecast to remain stable, while remortgage lending was expected to rise to ** billion British pounds.

Home Loans in the United Kingdom increased to 5340 GBP Million in June from 2213 GBP Million in May of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Mortgage Lending- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

This data set contains Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics at local authority level.

The figures cover the launch of the scheme on 1 April 2013 until 31 October 2014.

Information on the allocation of completed sales to postcode sectors is derived using the latest available information on the full postcode for each scheme, which may be subject to revision. For sales before 31 March 2014, properties are included under the local authority district to which they were initially allocated. In some cases, this differs from latest information, which forms the basis of the first column of local authority district figures. Figures for some local authorities may be subject to revisions later in the year. Although local authority information is validated against other geographic data at the time of data entry, detailed reconciliation of the data, conducted twice a year, may result in a small number of changes to these monthly releases, for example where a new development crosses a local authority boundary.

An equity loan is Government financial assistance given to eligible applicants to purchase an eligible home through a Government equity mortgage secured on the home. The Government equity mortgage is ranked second in priority behind an owner’s main mortgage lender.

This scheme offers up to 20 per cent of the value as Government assistance to purchasers buying a new build home. The buyer must provide a cash deposit of at least 5 per cent and a main mortgage lender must provide a loan of at least 75 per cent.

The Government assistance to buy is made through an equity loan made by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to the purchaser.

Help to Buy equity loans are only available on new build homes and the maximum purchase price is £600,000. Equity loan assistance for purchasers is paid via house builders registered with the HCA to participate in the Help to Buy equity loan initiative. The payment is made to builders (via solicitors) at purchaser legal completion.

The equity loan is provided without fees for the first five years of ownership.

The property title is held by the home owner who can therefore sell their home at any time and upon sale should provide the government the value of the same equity share of the property when it is sold.

For further information see
Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme monthly statistics.

Mortgage brokers’ revenue is anticipated to climb at a compound annual rate of 4.5% over the five years through 2024-25 to £2.3 billion, including estimated growth of . Rising residential property transactions stimulated by government initiatives and rising house prices have driven industry growth. However, mortgage brokers have faced numerous obstacles, including downward pricing pressures from upstream lenders and a sharp downturn in the housing market as rising mortgage rates ramped up the cost of borrowing. After a standstill in residential real estate activity in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, ultra-low base rates, the release of pent-up demand, the introduction of tax incentives and buyers reassessing their living situation fuelled a V-shaped recovery in the housing market. This meant new mortgage approvals for house purchases boomed going into 2021-22, ramping up demand for brokerage services. 2022-23 was a year rife with economic headwinds, from rising interest rates to fears of a looming recession. Yet, the housing market stood its ground, with brokers continuing to benefit from rising prices. Elevated mortgage rates eventually hit demand for houses in the first half of 2023, contributing to lacklustre house price growth in 2023-24, hurting revenue, despite a modest recovery in the second half of the year as mortgage rates came down. In 2024-25, lower mortgage rates and an improving economic outlook support house prices, driving revenue growth. Mortgage brokers’ revenue is anticipated to swell at a compound annual rate of 5.3% over the five years through 2029-30 to £2.9 billion. Competition from direct lending will ramp up. Yet, growth opportunities remain. The emergence of niche mortgage products, like those targeting retired individuals and contractors, as well as green mortgages, will support revenue growth in the coming years. AI is also set to transform the industry, improving cost efficiencies by automating tasks like document verification, risk assessment and customer profiling.

This data set contains Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics at postcode district level. For data released from 5 March 2015 onwards, the Homes and Community Agency (HCA) have revised the completion date for the entire Help to Buy Equity Loan time series. The HCA have stopped counting payment date (when the money out is paid out by the HCA) and now report on the expected actual completion date. It is more accurate and is closer to the live situation, especially when HCA now recognise an asset based on a completion, rather than exchange and approved claim. As a result (and due to reinstating accounts) HCA have seen movement of actual completions dates. There should not be this level of difference moving forward, it was a one off activity. The figures cover the launch of the scheme on 1 April 2013 until 30 September 2016.

Figures have been attributed to an individual constituency by reconciling data against the ONS Postcode Directory (May 2014) where possible. Figures for some constituencies may be subject to revision later in the year.

For sales before 31 March 2014, properties are included under the local authority district to which they were initially allocated. In some cases, this differs from latest information, which forms the basis of the first column of local authority district figures. Figures for some local authorities may be subject to revisions later in the year. Although local authority information is validated against other geographic data at the time of data entry, detailed reconciliation of the data, conducted twice a year, may result in a small number of changes to these monthly releases, for example where a new development crosses a local authority boundary.

An equity loan is Government financial assistance given to eligible applicants to purchase an eligible home through a Government equity mortgage secured on the home. The Government equity mortgage is ranked second in priority behind an owner’s main mortgage lender.

This scheme offers up to 20 per cent of the value as Government assistance to purchasers buying a new build home. The buyer must provide a cash deposit of at least 5 per cent and a main mortgage lender must provide a loan of at least 75 per cent.

The Government assistance to buy is made through an equity loan made by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to the purchaser.

Help to Buy equity loans are only available on new build homes and the maximum purchase price is £600,000. Equity loan assistance for purchasers is paid via house builders registered with the HCA to participate in the Help to Buy equity loan initiative. The payment is made to builders (via solicitors) at purchaser legal completion.

The equity loan is provided without fees for the first five years of ownership.

The property title is held by the home owner who can therefore sell their home at any time and upon sale should provide the government the value of the same equity share of the property when it is sold.

For further information see
Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme monthly statistics.

Between 2006 and 2025, year-on-year change consumer loans in the United Kingdom (UK) fluctuated more than mortgage lending. After a very sharp fall in mid to late 2020 and early 2021, the value of consumer credit began to increase again, reaching a positive annual growth rate of *** percent in April 2025. Meanwhile, the year-on-year change of mortgages kept growing in 2024 from **** percent in January 2024 to *** percent in April 2025.

While the market has recovered well since the financial crisis, often growing by a double-digit percentage year-on-year, rising economic uncertainties will dampen the prospects for future growth over the coming years. During 2017-21, gross advances are expected to record a CAGR of 5.7%, reaching £327.0bn by the end of the forecast period. Read More

This data set contains Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics at local authority level and includes total equity loans and equity loans to first time buyers . For data released from 5 March 2015 onwards, the Homes and Community Agency (HCA) have revised the completion date for the entire Help to Buy Equity Loan time series. The HCA have stopped counting payment date (when the money out is paid out by the HCA) and now report on the expected actual completion date. It is more accurate and is closer to the live situation, especially when HCA now recognise an asset based on a completion, rather than exchange and approved claim. As a result (and due to reinstating accounts) HCA have seen movement of actual completions dates. There should not be this level of difference moving forward, it was a one off activity.

Information on the allocation of completed sales to postcode sectors is derived using the latest available information on the full postcode for each scheme, which may be subject to revision.

For sales before 31 March 2014, properties are included under the local authority district to which they were initially allocated. In some cases, this differs from latest information, which forms the basis of the first column of local authority district figures. Figures for some local authorities may be subject to revisions later in the year.

Although local authority information is validated against other geographic data at the time of data entry, detailed reconciliation of the data, conducted twice a year, may result in a small number of changes to these monthly releases, for example where a new development crosses a local authority boundary.

An equity loan is Government financial assistance given to eligible applicants to purchase an eligible home through a Government equity mortgage secured on the home. The Government equity mortgage is ranked second in priority behind an owner’s main mortgage lender.

This scheme offers up to 20 per cent of the value as Government assistance to purchasers buying a new build home. The buyer must provide a cash deposit of at least 5 per cent and a main mortgage lender must provide a loan of at least 75 per cent.

The Government assistance to buy is made through an equity loan made by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to the purchaser.

Help to Buy equity loans are only available on new build homes and the maximum purchase price is £600,000. Equity loan assistance for purchasers is paid via house builders registered with the HCA to participate in the Help to Buy equity loan initiative. The payment is made to builders (via solicitors) at purchaser legal completion.

The equity loan is provided without fees for the first five years of ownership.

The property title is held by the home owner who can therefore sell their home at any time and upon sale should provide the government the value of the same equity share of the property when it is sold.

For further information see
Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme monthly statistics.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. The Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is a longitudinal survey, which aims to address gaps identified in data about the economic well-being of households by gathering information on level of assets, savings and debt; saving for retirement; how wealth is distributed among households or individuals; and factors that affect financial planning. Private households in Great Britain were sampled for the survey (meaning that people in residential institutions, such as retirement homes, nursing homes, prisons, barracks or university halls of residence, and also homeless people were not included). The WAS commenced in July 2006, with a first wave of interviews carried out over two years, to June 2008. Interviews were achieved with 30,595 households at Wave 1. Those households were approached again for a Wave 2 interview between July 2008 and June 2010, and 20,170 households took part. Wave 3 covered July 2010 - June 2012, Wave 4 covered July 2012 - June 2014 and Wave 5 covered July 2014 - June 2016. Revisions to previous waves' data mean that small differences may occur between originally published estimates and estimates from the datasets held by the UK Data Service. Data are revised on a wave by wave basis, as a result of backwards imputation from the current wave's data. These revisions are due to improvements in the imputation methodology.Note from the WAS team - November 2023:“The Office for National Statistics has identified a very small number of outlier cases present in the seventh round of the Wealth and Assets Survey covering the period April 2018 to March 2020. Our current approach is to treat cases where we have reasonable evidence to suggest the values provided for specific variables are outliers. This approach did not occur for two individuals for several variables involved in the estimation of their pension wealth. While we estimate any impacts are very small overall and median pension wealth and median total wealth estimates are unaffected, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of the pension wealth within the wealthiest decile, and data derived from them. We are urging caution in the interpretation of more detailed estimates.” Survey Periodicity - "Waves" to "Rounds" Due to the survey periodicity moving from “Waves” (July, ending in June two years later) to “Rounds” (April, ending in March two years later), interviews using the ‘Wave 6’ questionnaire started in July 2016 and were conducted for 21 months, finishing in March 2018. Data for round 6 covers the period April 2016 to March 2018. This comprises of the last three months of Wave 5 (April to June 2016) and 21 months of Wave 6 (July 2016 to March 2018). Round 5 and Round 6 datasets are based on a mixture of original wave-based datasets. Each wave of the survey has a unique questionnaire and therefore each of these round-based datasets are based on two questionnaires. While there may be some changes in the questionnaires, the derived variables for the key wealth estimates have not changed over this period. The aim is to collect the same data, though in some cases the exact questions asked may differ slightly. Detailed information on Moving the Wealth and Assets Survey onto a financial years’ basis was published on the ONS website in July 2019. A Secure Access version of the WAS, subject to more stringent access conditions, is available under SN 6709; it contains more detailed geographic variables than the EUL version. Users are advised to download the EUL version first (SN 7215) to see if it is suitable for their needs, before considering making an application for the Secure Access version.Further information and documentation may be found on the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey webpage. Users are advised to the check the page for updates before commencing analysis.Occupation data for 2021 and 2022 data files The ONS have identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. None of ONS' headline statistics, other than those directly sourced from occupational data, are affected and you can continue to rely on their accuracy. For further information on this issue, please see: https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/occupationaldatainonssurveys.Latest edition informationFor the 18th edition (May 2023), the inheritance variables 'ivalb1r7' and 'ivalb1r7_i' which had been omitted in error have been added. Main Topics: The WAS questionnaire is divided into two parts with all adults aged 16 years and over (excluding those aged 16 to 18 currently in full-time education) being interviewed in each responding household. Household schedule: This is completed by one person in the household (usually the head of household or their partner) and predominantly collects household level information such as the number, demographics and relationship of individuals to each other, as well as information about the ownership, value and mortgages on the residence and other household assets. Individual schedule: This is given to each adult in the household and asks questions about economic status, education and employment, business assets, benefits and tax credits, saving attitudes and behaviour, attitudes to debt, insolvency, major items of expenditure, retirement, attitudes to saving for retirement, pensions, financial assets, non-mortgage debt, investments and other income. Multi-stage stratified random sample Telephone interview Face-to-face interview 2006 2020 ADOPTION PAY AGE AIRCRAFT ASSETS ATTITUDES TO SAVING BANK ACCOUNTS BICYCLES BOATS BONDS BUSINESS OWNERSHIP BUSINESS RECORDS BUSINESSES CARAVANS CARE OF DEPENDANTS CARERS BENEFITS CARS CHILD BENEFITS CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS CHILD TRUST FUNDS COHABITING COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS COST OF LIVING COSTS CREDIT CARD USE DEBILITATIVE ILLNESS DEBTS DISABILITIES EARLY RETIREMENT ECONOMIC ACTIVITY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND EDUCATIONAL COURSES EDUCATIONAL FEES EDUCATIONAL STATUS EMPLOYEES EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMMES ENDOWMENT ASSURANCE ESTATES ETHNIC GROUPS FAMILY BENEFITS FAMILY INCOME FAMILY MEMBERS FINANCIAL ADVICE FINANCIAL COMPENSATION FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES FINANCIAL SERVICES FRINGE BENEFITS FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT FURNISHED ACCOMMODA... GIFTS Great Britain HEALTH HEALTH STATUS HIRE PURCHASE HOME BUILDINGS INSU... HOME BUYING HOME CONTENTS INSUR... HOME OWNERSHIP HOUSE PRICES HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS HOUSEHOLD HEAD S EC... HOUSEHOLD HEAD S SO... HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLDERS HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING AGE HOUSING ECONOMICS HOUSING FINANCE HOUSING TENURE ILL HEALTH INCOME INCONTINENCE INFORMAL CARE INHERITANCE INSOLVENCIES INSURANCE CLAIMS INTELLECTUAL IMPAIR... INVESTMENT Income JOB HUNTING JOB SEEKER S ALLOWANCE LAND OWNERSHIP LANDLORDS LOANS Labour and employment MAIL ORDER SERVICES MARITAL STATUS MATERNITY BENEFITS MATERNITY PAY MATHEMATICS MOBILE HOMES MORTGAGE ARREARS MORTGAGE PROTECTION... MORTGAGES MOTOR VEHICLE VALUE MOTOR VEHICLES MOTORCYCLES OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS OCCUPATIONAL QUALIF... OCCUPATIONS OLD AGE BENEFITS ONE PARENT FAMILIES OVERDRAFTS PART TIME EMPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIPS BUSINESS PATERNITY BENEFITS PATERNITY PAY PENSION BENEFITS PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS PENSIONS PERSONAL DEBT REPAY... PERSONAL FINANCE MA... PHYSICAL MOBILITY PLACE OF BIRTH PRIVATE PENSIONS PRIVATE PERSONAL PE... PROFIT SHARING PROFITS QUALIFICATIONS REDUNDANCY PAY RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION RELIGIOUS ATTENDANCE RENTED ACCOMMODATION RENTS RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS RETIREMENT AGE SAVINGS SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AN... SECOND HOMES SELF EMPLOYED SELLING SHARED HOME OWNERSHIP SHARES SICK PAY SICKNESS AND DISABI... SOCIAL HOUSING SOCIAL SECURITY BEN... SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS SPOUSES STAKEHOLDER PENSIONS STATE RETIREMENT PE... STATUS IN EMPLOYMENT STUDENT LOANS SUBSIDIARY EMPLOYMENT SUPERVISORY STATUS TAX RELIEF TENANTS HOME PURCHA... TIED HOUSING TOP MANAGEMENT TRANSPORT FARES TRUSTS UNEARNED INCOME UNEMPLOYED UNFURNISHED ACCOMMO... UNWAGED WORKERS WAGES WEALTH WILLS WINNINGS WORKPLACE property and invest...

The mortgage market has recovered well since the financial crisis, often producing double-digit growth each year. However, rising economic uncertainties will dampen the prospects for future growth over the coming years. During the forecast period (2018-22), gross advances are expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2%, reaching £338bn by the end of the forecast period versus a historic five-year CAGR of 7.6% from 2013 to 2017. Read More

This data set contains Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics at postcode district level. The figures cover the launch of the scheme on 1 April 2013 until 31 October 2014.

Information on the allocation of completed sales to postcode districts is derived using the latest available information on the full postcode for each scheme. Figures have been attributed to an individual postcode sector by reconciling data against the ONS Postcode Directory (May 2014) where possible. Figures may be subject to revision later in the year.

For sales before 31 March 2014, properties are included under the local authority district to which they were initially allocated. In some cases, this differs from latest information, which forms the basis of the first column of local authority district figures. Figures for some local authorities may be subject to revisions later in the year. Although local authority information is validated against other geographic data at the time of data entry, detailed reconciliation of the data, conducted twice a year, may result in a small number of changes to these monthly releases, for example where a new development crosses a local authority boundary.

An equity loan is Government financial assistance given to eligible applicants to purchase an eligible home through a Government equity mortgage secured on the home. The Government equity mortgage is ranked second in priority behind an owner’s main mortgage lender.

This scheme offers up to 20 per cent of the value as Government assistance to purchasers buying a new build home. The buyer must provide a cash deposit of at least 5 per cent and a main mortgage lender must provide a loan of at least 75 per cent.

The Government assistance to buy is made through an equity loan made by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to the purchaser.

Help to Buy equity loans are only available on new build homes and the maximum purchase price is £600,000. Equity loan assistance for purchasers is paid via house builders registered with the HCA to participate in the Help to Buy equity loan initiative. The payment is made to builders (via solicitors) at purchaser legal completion.

The equity loan is provided without fees for the first five years of ownership.

The property title is held by the home owner who can therefore sell their home at any time and upon sale should provide the government the value of the same equity share of the property when it is sold.

For further information see
Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme monthly statistics.

This data set contains Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics at parliamentary constituency level.

The figures cover the launch of the scheme on 1 April 2013 until 31 October 2014.

Figures have been attributed to an individual constituency by reconciling data against the ONS Postcode Directory (May 2014) where possible. Figures for some constituencies may be subject to revision later in the year.

. For sales before 31 March 2014, properties are included under the local authority district to which they were initially allocated. In some cases, this differs from latest information, which forms the basis of the first column of local authority district figures. Figures for some local authorities may be subject to revisions later in the year. Although local authority information is validated against other geographic data at the time of data entry, detailed reconciliation of the data, conducted twice a year, may result in a small number of changes to these monthly releases, for example where a new development crosses a local authority boundary.

An equity loan is Government financial assistance given to eligible applicants to purchase an eligible home through a Government equity mortgage secured on the home. The Government equity mortgage is ranked second in priority behind an owner’s main mortgage lender.

This scheme offers up to 20 per cent of the value as Government assistance to purchasers buying a new build home. The buyer must provide a cash deposit of at least 5 per cent and a main mortgage lender must provide a loan of at least 75 per cent.

The Government assistance to buy is made through an equity loan made by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to the purchaser.

Help to Buy equity loans are only available on new build homes and the maximum purchase price is £600,000. Equity loan assistance for purchasers is paid via house builders registered with the HCA to participate in the Help to Buy equity loan initiative. The payment is made to builders (via solicitors) at purchaser legal completion.

The equity loan is provided without fees for the first five years of ownership.

The property title is held by the home owner who can therefore sell their home at any time and upon sale should provide the government the value of the same equity share of the property when it is sold.

For further information see
Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme monthly statistics.

After a period of rapid increase, house price growth in the UK has moderated. In 2025, house prices are forecast to increase by ****percent. Between 2025 and 2029, the average house price growth is projected at *** percent. According to the source, home building is expected to increase slightly in this period, fueling home buying. On the other hand, higher borrowing costs despite recent easing of mortgage rates and affordability challenges may continue to suppress transaction activity. Historical house price growth in the UK House prices rose steadily between 2015 and 2020, despite minor fluctuations. In the following two years, prices soared, leading to the house price index jumping by about 20 percent. As the market stood in April 2025, the average price for a home stood at approximately ******* British pounds. Rents are expected to continue to grow According to another forecast, the prime residential market is also expected to see rental prices grow in the next five years. Growth is forecast to be stronger in 2025 and slow slightly until 2029. The rental market in London is expected to follow a similar trend, with Outer London slightly outperforming Central London.

Mortgage rates in the United Kingdom (UK) have risen dramatically since the beginning of 2022, causing concerns about households with loans up for renewal facing notable increases in costs. That is the case for 1.4 million fixed rate mortgages up for renewal in 2023. This type of mortgage is a popular choice among homebuyers because it allows them to lock in the interest rate for a specific period. After the period runs out, homebuyers need to renegotiate the loan or switch to a variable interest rate. The vast majority of loans up for renewal until 2024 have an initial effective mortgage rate of less than 2.5 percent - significantly lower than the current mortgage rates.

The benchmark interest rate in the United Kingdom was last recorded at 4.25 percent. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

UK adults aged 35 to 44 were most likely to have a mortgage loan in 2022, with more than half of the respondents in a nationally representative survey sharing that they held one in their own name or joint names. The average for the country stood at ** percent at that time. Among older generations, the percentage of mortgage holders declined, as these were more likely to have already paid off their mortgage.

August 2024 marked a significant shift in the UK's monetary policy, as it saw the first reduction in the official bank base interest rate since August 2023. This change came after a period of consistent rate hikes that began in late 2021. In a bid to minimize the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of England cut the official bank base rate in March 2020 to a record low of *** percent. This historic low came just one week after the Bank of England cut rates from **** percent to **** percent in a bid to prevent mass job cuts in the United Kingdom. It remained at *** percent until December 2021 and was increased to one percent in May 2022 and to **** percent in October 2022. After that, the bank rate increased almost on a monthly basis, reaching **** percent in August 2023. It wasn't until August 2024 that the first rate decrease since the previous year occurred, signaling a potential shift in monetary policy. Why do central banks adjust interest rates? Central banks, including the Bank of England, adjust interest rates to manage economic stability and control inflation. Their strategies involve a delicate balance between two main approaches. When central banks raise interest rates, their goal is to cool down an overheated economy. Higher rates curb excessive spending and borrowing, which helps to prevent runaway inflation. This approach is typically used when the economy is growing too quickly or when inflation is rising above desired levels. Conversely, when central banks lower interest rates, they aim to encourage borrowing and investment. This strategy is employed to stimulate economic growth during periods of slowdown or recession. Lower rates make it cheaper for businesses and individuals to borrow money, which can lead to increased spending and investment. This dual approach allows central banks to maintain a balance between promoting growth and controlling inflation, ensuring long-term economic stability. Additionally, adjusting interest rates can influence currency values, impacting international trade and investment flows, further underscoring their critical role in a nation's economic health. Recent interest rate trends Between 2021 and 2024, most advanced and emerging economies experienced a period of regular interest rate hikes. This trend was driven by several factors, including persistent supply chain disruptions, high energy prices, and robust demand pressures. These elements combined to create significant inflationary trends, prompting central banks to raise rates in an effort to temper spending and borrowing. However, in 2024, a shift began to occur in global monetary policy. The European Central Bank (ECB) was among the first major central banks to reverse this trend by cutting interest rates. This move signaled a change in approach aimed at addressing growing economic slowdowns and supporting growth.