Following the Bank of England’s decision to cut the base rate from 5.25% to 5%, Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, comments:

“The Bank of England has today held firm in its commitment to cut the base rate to 5%, the first rate cut since 2020. Despite goods inflation unexpectedly remaining stubbornly high in June, the recent General Election result has positioned the UK well for a period of greater certainty - something that had been well missed in recent years.

“For the property market, the hope is that a cut to the base rate will stimulate greater optimism and activity from buyers and sellers, with the likelihood that a reduction in mortgage rates will follow suit swiftly to ease affordability decisions. It will be particularly significant at the lower end of the market which will then create opportunities for movement in the middle and top end where there has been a smaller pool of buyers and properties to choose from in recent years.

“Whilst many moving decisions are unavoidable driven by lifestyle decisions such as schools and jobs, those with more speculative but less urgent reasons to make their move have been on a temporary hold. A cut to the base rate is exactly what is needed to power up leisurely buyers, opening up market opportunities more broadly.

“There are early signs of this trend across the Jackson-Stops network, in which instructions and listings in June were up year-on-year. This immediate uptick in supply will give buyers more choice and should support market growth as political reticence makes way for economic clarity. Positively too, exchanges have remained steady year-on-year across the Jackson-Stops national branches, demonstrating the markets broader resilience against macro-headwinds.”