Interest rates maintained at 5.25%

The base rate of interest has been maintained at 5.25 per cent, the Bank of England has announced.

Most economic analysts had anticipated that the bank would decide not to move the rate this month, after having introduced a quarter-point cut in February.

The news could be of interest to anyone looking to sell a house in Scotland because the cost of borrowing tends to impact on the scale of mortgage market activity and the resulting house price.

A number of organisations, including the John Charcol mortgage broker, had called for the bank to cut its interest rates in the interest of boosting the prospects of people looking to buy a house in Scotland or in other areas of the UK.

Noting that one member of the Bank’s monetary policy committee voted for a 0.5 per cent cut in interest rates last month, Abbey suggested that a reduction is likely "in the next couple of months.