Interest rates cut to 5%

However, the move will come as little relief to mortgage borrowers, as lenders have risen rates in recent months despite two earlier cuts by the MPC. Some market commentators had hoped for a 0.5% cut in rates to help offset the rising cost of mortgages as lenders withdraw from the market. Duncan Samuel, managing director of conveyancing firm Convex.net, says: “Despite this cut, first time buyers will still not be coming to the market in the current climate. "The whole market is resting on first-time buyers and, in the housing chains we are dealing with as conveyancers, it is the bottom w...