HOLDThe Bank of England held the base rate at 3.75% on 30 July 2026. In the video below, James Stevenson and Richard Merrett explain what this means for London buyers and sellers, including why borrowing capacity is higher than a year ago and where the opportunity sits for first-time buyers.
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James Stevenson, Managing Director of Sales at Foxtons, and Richard Merrett, Managing Director of Alexander Hall, give you the read from both sides: what lenders are doing right now, where first-time buyer products have improved, and why what you see on an online mortgage calculator may not be the full picture.
Advice for first-time buyers in London
In the video, Richard explains why first-time buyer products have improved and what that means for your borrowing capacity. If you want to go deeper, these guides cover the full process from deposit to completion:
📌 What to consider before you start your property search
📌 Are you eligible for a no-deposit mortgage?
📌 Should I find a new home before I sell?
📌 Your checklist after the offer
📌 What do searches mean in a property purchase
📌 Do this first when you move in to your new home.
What mortgage options are available to buyers?
An online mortgage calculator will give you a number. What it will not give you is the full range of products, structures and lender criteria that could change that number in your favour. A smaller deposit, a longer term, a portion on interest only: these are decisions that depend on your circumstances, and they are decisions a good adviser can walk you through.
"People do tend to think the answer's online. And it's not. Mortgage advice is really crucial, because it can challenge people's perceptions and show them more in terms of the art of the possible."Richard Merrett
Managing Director of Alexander Hall
If you want to understand how different mortgage types work, including the difference between repayment and interest-only, we covered that in detail in our June base rate article. For a broader look at the mortgage products available to you, read our guide: What different types of mortgages are there?
How to price and sell your home in the London market
In our video, James covers pricing and why viewing feedback matters more than rate headlines. And for the wider picture, here are a few practical guides for selling your home:
📌 The 2026 London Sales Market: monthly trends and insights from Foxtons
📌 Sellers' guide to setting the right price for your property
📌 What do changes in the market mean for my property sale?
📌 The trading gap: where the real value sits (from our June base rate article)
So what's your next step? No matter the base rate decision, the market marches on and you still have a move to make. For tailored advice, speak to your Foxtons agent and Alexander Hall adviser.
Source: This article is based on insights shared by James Stevenson, Managing Director of Sales at Foxtons, and Richard Merrett, Managing Director of Alexander Hall, in the accompanying market update video, alongside the Bank of England's latest base rate announcement and the experience of Foxtons sales teams across London. Drawing on thousands of buyer and seller conversations each year, our experts provide practical, on-the-ground insight into how market conditions are affecting movers today. If you have any questions, ask a Foxtons expert.
Read the full transcript
JS: The Bank of England has just announced the base rate will stay at 3.75%. Now, that might sound like a non-event, but a hold still tells us a lot. I recently sat down with Richard Merrett from Alexander Hall at The Brentford Project by Ballymore to talk through exactly that. What buyers, sellers, and anyone with a mortgage should be thinking about right now. Let's get into it.
JS: A huge wave of fixed deals are coming to an end this year, including mine. How is it that lenders are going to compete for borrowers when that's the situation?
RM: We're seeing huge competition in the market. Lots and lots of requirement for lenders to lend. And as a result, there's lots and lots of pricing movement, not just in relation to what's going on in the bigger picture. Ultimately, lenders want to lend, they need to lend, so we're seeing lots and lots of different innovations. And you've just touched on the number of deals coming to an end, but actually, this also then plays out into the purchase market. And what we've really seen is a huge amount of innovation towards the first-time buyer market in particular. So a number of major lenders have improved their affordability. A number have introduced new products for people with smaller deposits. So I think there's lots of opportunity out there, and it's really about borrowers understanding, being curious to ask the question, "Can I get a mortgage? At what level? How much will it cost me?" And the best thing that they can do to find out is go and speak to an advisor.
JS: Rates dominate the national conversation. But how much do they actually shape what's happening on a street-by-street level in London?
RM: It's a really good question. You can sometimes get a bit of panic from what happens with the rate announcements. But you are always going to have the core amount of people that want to sell, they want to upsize. You've got those people that are coming to the end of their tenancy and want to get onto the ladder for the first time. And a lot of people are moving for genuine life decisions, be it they're having a child or they might be separating. For whatever reason, there will always be an infinite amount of demand in that market.
JS: I think what's really important from a seller's perspective is don't panic. Don't rush to make a decision on where your pricing sits. But listen to your estate agent, listen to the feedback. More often than not, if something's sitting on the market, it's not because of necessarily a huge change in a rate in the marketplace. It'll be because over a period of time, the feedback is your property potentially isn't sitting in the right price range against its competition.
JS: I was also reading an article earlier today which spoke about how half of potential buyers are unaware that their borrowing power may have increased by £40,000, and they can afford £34,000 more than they could have done 12 months ago. And also, the research found that just under half of buyers, 47%, would buy immediately if their mortgage repayments matched their rent. How is it that people don't know this?
RM: I think this comes down to some of the things that we've discussed already, confidence and being curious. And this is where it's just so important that people go and speak to a good mortgage advisor. There are a host of better deals available than people imagine, and there are certainly more options from a criteria and proposition point of view in terms of lender products. So be that the ability to buy with a smaller level of deposit, be that the ability to put a mortgage over a longer term. Take some on interest only, or all on interest only. And all of these things with the right advice could give someone the borrowing capacity or product that gives them a differential in terms of what they would just find by going online and putting in, "How much can I borrow and what's the rate going to be?" This is really where good advice is crucial. And I think because we are in a world where there's lots of information available, people do sort of tend to think, well, the answer's online. And it's not.
JS: Wherever rates go from here, get the right advice now, and we'll be ready to make your move. Get in touch with us, and we'll talk you through it.
