What's happening to UK interest rates and what does it mean for mortgages?

Just under a third of households have a mortgage, according to the government's English Housing Survey, external.

About 500,000 homeowners have a mortgage that "tracks" the Bank of England's rate.

Any rise in the Bank rate means an increase in the monthly repayments on their outstanding loan. For a typical loan, the cost would go up by about £31 a month if the Bank raises the base rate by 0.25 percentage points, but it depends on the size of people's loans.

An additional 500,000 homeowners on standard variable rates (SVRs) would wait to see if their lender chose to pass on any Bank rate rise. Typically, this would mean a £14 increase per month in repayments for a 0.25 percentage points rates rise.