Commenting following the Bank of England’s Money and Credit report, Harris said: “This is likely to be the last set of numbers from the Bank of England where the effective interest rate on new mortgages falls, as several lenders, including Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and TSB, have all since raised their pricing in anticipation of a base rate rise next week.

“With the Bank of England hinting at a rate rise, and the Chancellor in his Budget referring to an average rate of inflation of 4% next year, all signs are that the official rate will rise for the first time since March 2020.”

Harris added that the mortgage industry has started to pre-empt this: “Whether base rate rises or not, mortgage rates have started edging upwards as the markets have already priced in a rate rise, and possibly two or three more by the end of next year.”