No one will have been surprised by the Bank of England’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent this month. Had the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee opted to cut rates, it would have caused considerable surprise in the markets – something it is reluctant to see.

Interest rates were originally expected to fall this spring – until they didn’t. Investors now expect the first cut to arrive in late summer at the earliest.

That will, of course, extend the pain for mortgage…