With the base rate rising and lenders changing interest rates regularly, a popular question we get asked is: “If the base rate hasn’t moved, why has the interest rate available from lenders gone up?” or “The base rate went up, but lenders haven’t changed their rates. Why is this?”

Many factors play into making an interest rate. Often lenders will tweak their rates to ensure they are not market-leading, as they wouldn’t be able to cope with the volume of applications, but other economic factors can play into it too. With the majority of mortgage products being fixed rates, lenders look to swap rates to assist them in their pricing.

Everything is going up. Most of us have felt the pinch on our pockets resulting from the cost of living crisis and increasing mortgage rates. This can have a massive impact on stress levels to the extent that it can also affect people’s ability to work. Financial advisors have a duty to step back and take the time to explain to clients the possible impact of stress on household earnings. After all, if you were signed off work due to stress, how would you be able to keep up to date with your financial commitments?

No household or business across the UK has escaped the escalating costs of an array of goods, services and borrowing over the past six to twelve months. Of course, the impact of this additional financial pressure will vary from individual to individual and from business to business but in the wake of an eleventh consecutive interest rate hike, the impact on residential buyers, landlords and even tenants is evident.

According to new research from Octane Capital – which analysed the current cost of the average buy-to-let mortgage and how this monthly repayment has increased in the last year – the cost of maintaining a monthly buy-to-let mortgage interest payment has climbed by 75.7% in the last year, with those making a full mortgage repayment each month seeing an increase of 31.6%.

After a relatively quiet December and January for the lettings market, February saw some much-needed momentum return to help generate stronger rents and a significant fall in rental voids.

This is according to market analysis from Goodlord which suggested that strong demand among tenants saw the average void period for a rental property in England drop by 26% in February – from 23 to 17 days. The biggest changes were seen in the North West, where voids went from 27 days in January to just 18 days in February – a steep drop of a third (33%).