# Bank of England holds Bank Rate at 4.25% in May meeting

> Rates & inflation · 22 May 2026

Canonical HTML: https://moneyguide.org.uk/news/bank-of-england-holds-bank-rate-at-4-25-may-2026/
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## Summary

The Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep the base rate unchanged for a second meeting running, with two members favouring a cut.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee held Bank Rate at 4.25% at its May meeting, the second consecutive hold after a sequence of quarter-point cuts through late 2025 and early 2026.

Seven members voted for the hold; two voted for a quarter-point cut. The minutes noted that services inflation remains stickier than headline CPI and that wage growth, while easing, is still running above levels consistent with the 2% target.

For households, the immediate effect is more of the same: easy-access savings rates have crept down from their late-2024 peaks but remain well above where they were before 2022, and tracker and SVR mortgage payments are unchanged. Fixed-rate mortgage pricing has softened slightly on the back of falling swap rates, with the cheapest two-year fixes for 60% LTV now under 4%.

Markets are pricing in one further quarter-point cut by the end of 2026, taking Bank Rate to 4.0%, although the path will hinge on the next two CPI prints and the Autumn Budget's fiscal stance.

## Related topics

- [/mortgages/](https://moneyguide.org.uk/mortgages/)
- [/savings/](https://moneyguide.org.uk/savings/)

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Independent UK money guidance from [Money Guide](https://moneyguide.org.uk). Information only — not regulated financial advice.