More rate cuts ‘likely’
The Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) is likely to cut the base rate by 0.5 per cent during the first half of next year, according to a property market expert.
A fortnight ago the MPC voted to cut the base rate by 0.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent - the first change since July 2007.
The minutes of the meeting showed that a proposal from the Bank of England's governor Mervyn King to cut the base rate was approved unanimously by the nine-member committee.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said the result of the vote suggested there is an appetite for further cuts.
"We expect base rates to be lowered by at least another half point during the first half of 2008," said Mr Rubinsohn.
He added that any further rate cuts would be a major relief for the thousands of homeowners who are approaching the end of a fixed-rate mortgage deal taken out when the base rate was just 4.5 per cent.
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