Homeowners that have been feeling the rush to remortgage may have been given the gift of more time. Experts had expected that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would likely raise the standard base interest rate next month during the May meeting, but now many are changing their forecast until June. If indeed there is a delay in the rate increase it would give homeowners more time to shop for a remortgage and secure a fixed low interest rate deal.

It is not a sure thing that the MPC will delay until June, and they could very well still vote by majority to change the rate, so homeowners are encouraged to stay actively involved in seeking a remortgage if an increase would prove financially difficult for them. Those homeowners that don’t want to pay more than they have to will also be looking at how a remortgage could be helpful for their financial situation.

The current standard base rate is at 0.50% having been doubled when it was raised back in November from 0.25%. Experts believe the next increase will be another 0.25% which would put the rate at 0.75%.

Homeowners that have had their current mortgage deal end and did not remortgage but allowed their mortgage to be moved to their lender’s standard variable rate (SVR) will want to consider this opportunity of a possible delay. Rather than slowing down the effort to consider, shop, and find a remortgage, a delay in a rate hike is the time to take action if paying a higher interest rate would cause financial difficulty.

There are currently very attractive remortgages available from lenders and it would be better for many to escape the interest rate increase than to wait it out and be impacted when it could have been avoided.