Bank of England base rate: today’s rate and the next decision

What the Bank of England base rate is, and who sets it

The Bank of England base rate, or Bank Rate, is the interest rate the Bank pays on money that banks hold with it. Because it sets the floor for what banks pay to borrow overnight, it feeds through to savings, loans and mortgages across the UK.

It is set by the Monetary Policy Committee, nine people: five from the Bank, including the Governor, and four external experts. Each has one vote, and the majority decides. Their job is to keep inflation close to the government’s 2% target, so they raise Bank Rate when inflation looks too high and cut it when it looks set to fall below target.

When the decisions are announced

The Committee announces eight decisions a year, on Thursdays at 12 noon, together with the minutes of its meeting. Four of them, in February, April or May, July or August, and November, also come with the Monetary Policy Report, the Bank’s full forecast. Those meetings often get the most attention because the Bank shows its own view of where inflation and the economy are heading.

The full list of dates for 2026 and 2027 is in the table above, taken from the Bank of England’s own published schedule. The next one is highlighted, and it moves on automatically after each announcement. You can check the official figure at any time on the Bank of England’s Bank Rate page.

What a change in the Bank of England base rate does to your mortgage

For a quarter point move on a tracker, the difference is smaller than many people expect. On a £200,000 repayment mortgage over 25 years, a tracker at an illustrative 4.20% costs about £1,078 a month. A quarter point cut takes that to about £1,050, and a quarter point rise to about £1,106.

Why fixed rates can move before the decision

Fixed rates are priced from swap rates, which reflect where markets expect Bank Rate to be over the next two or five years. If a cut is widely expected, it is usually already in fixed rates before it is announced. If the Committee then sounds more cautious than expected, fixed rates can even rise after a cut. Theo’s rate pressure reading tracks those expectations every weekday.

Bank of England base rate history

Bank Rate was cut to a record low of 0.1% in March 2020. From December 2021 the Bank raised it fourteen times to fight high inflation, reaching 5.25% in August 2023, its highest level since early 2008. It then started to fall.

Today’s rate is shown live at the top of this page and updates in Theo on the day of any change.