April break from rates tees up Miserable May

Insight | By Edmund Greaves

The lack of a rate decision is teeing up a ‘Miserable May’ after ‘Awful April’.

Awful April is the moniker the month ahead has been given in the media as the public faces a job lot of bill hikes all at once (see our list below).

But curiously enough the one thing we don’t have this month is a rate decision from the Bank of England.

Lower inflation in March figures will likely be sustained in April – but the subsequent month is looking as if it’ll be a Miserable May™ as the numbers mop up all the bill and tax rises.

Things aren’t looking excellent on the rates front, especially given pessimistic Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts on the economy amid the National Insurance hike and wider price rises.

It’s currently quite hard to find good news anywhere, as Trump gets ready to inject real chaos (rather than just the anticipation of it) into the global economic system.

If there’s one consolation, it’s that Easter on 20 April might give us all a few days breathing room before the media doom cycle rolls on again.

Awful April

Awful April kicks off with a raft of bill hikes on 1 April including:

Annual TV license fee increase
Annual water bill price changes
Annual council tax price changes
Ofgem’s energy price cap update
Air Passenger Duty rate changes
Vehicle Excise Duty on electric vehicles
National Insurance Employer contribution hike to 15% takes effect

The good news though is the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rises take effect on 1 April, while New State Pension and benefits rates come into effect on 7 April.

If you like the post, maybe consider getting your stamps in before 7 April when prices also rise.

MRM’s Mortgage Roundtable event – ‘The Mortgage Market in 2035’ – is on 2 April. Get in touch if you’d like to know more.

Finally, Office for National Statistics (ONS) monthly GDP estimates are on 11 April, while UK monthly unemployment figures are on 15 April, with UK monthly inflation figures on 16 April.

All the best wishing you a sunny month from all of us here at MRM, Mouthy Money and Octo.