Homebuyers welcome extra months to lock into record low mortgages

Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates offers reprieve, but house price growth forecast to slow

• Bank's rate decision leaves economists gasping for air

Homebuyers have been given a few more months to lock into the record low mortgage rates that have helped keep the housing market booming during the pandemic, experts have said, after the Bank of England held the base rate at 0.1%.

Lenders had been repricing their home loans upwards in recent days amid speculation the rate would rise to 0.25%, and many of the cheapest deals have been withdrawn.