Lloyds Bank chief executive Charlie Nunn told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that it was “unlikely” that interest rates for homeowners would return to the low levels seen over the past decade. He said he expected mortgage rates to fall, but not near zero. The percentages seen are from the 2010s.
“Is it cheap?” he asked. Nunn answered that mortgage transactions will continue to return. “I think mortgage rates will continue to fall, but I don't think they will go back to the levels of the past 10 years, when rates went down to zero.'' spoke. Not likely. ” 
The Bank of England's benchmark interest rate is currently 5%, which has been maintained at its current level since last month, with the MPC arguing that inflation needs to show a sustained downward trajectory before rates are cut further.
Nunn said that although many parts of the UK “continue to struggle” due to the cost of living, 2024 will be “unprecedented in terms of the majority of the population feeling more financially secure.” “We have reached a turning point,” he said.
“For most people, things are much better. People have more savings in savings accounts, fewer people are struggling with loans, and business confidence is actually at a nine-year high.”
Nunn's view that mortgage rates will not return to ultra-low levels was widely shared at the recent Mortgage Business Expo 2024. Sarah Palmer, distribution director at the mortgage lender, who spoke at a seminar on the challenges facing mortgage lending, said 3.5% is currently a significant level. A 'new normal', one participant pointed out, and that for some products we are almost at that point, which can be achieved without further reductions in banks' base rates. Strongly agreed.
The 3.5% mark was largely seen as a level that lenders would stick to, even if the MPC cut rates a bit further.
