A quieter week for policy after last week's flurry of ISA and mortgage-rule announcements, but plenty moving in the day-to-day numbers that actually touch your wallet: fresh house price figures, lenders still competing on rates, and the new energy price cap now in force. Here's what's worth knowing.
🏠 House prices edged up again in June
Nationwide's House Price Index, out this week, showed annual house price growth picking up to 2.2% in June, from 1.7% in May. Month on month, prices were broadly flat once seasonal effects are stripped out, leaving the average UK home at around £277,484. So the picture is one of a market ticking gently upwards rather than racing away, or falling back.
The regional split remains striking. Northern Ireland is still comfortably the strongest part of the UK, with prices up 8.6% over the year, around four times the UK pace. Scotland, Wales and the north of England are all growing faster than the national average, while the south is much flatter, the Outer South East was the weakest region at just 0.1% annual growth, and London rose a modest 1.6%.
Nationwide's chief economist noted that a recent easing in the market interest rates that underpin fixed-rate mortgage pricing should, if it holds, help ease affordability and support activity in the months ahead, though weaker confidence and a dip in mortgage approvals show the market has softened a little lately.
What it means for you: if you're buying, softer prices across much of southern England mean more room to negotiate, while stronger demand in the north and Northern Ireland means moving quickly matters more there. Wherever you are, the fundamentals count more than the headline index, your deposit, your budget and a rate that fits. Our first-time buyer guide and the repayment calculator are good places to start.
📉 Lenders keep trimming fixed rates
On the mortgage side, the competitive mood has carried on into July. Several major lenders have continued cutting selected fixed rates in recent weeks as the swap rates that feed into fixed-rate pricing have eased. As a rough guide to the market, the average two-year fixed rate sits at around 5.24% and the average five-year fixed at around 5.34% (at 75% loan-to-value). The big high-street lenders are typically lower still, averaging closer to 4.7%, and the cheapest deals for borrowers with large deposits are now dipping towards, and in a few cases below, 4%.
Two things are worth keeping in perspective. First, those headline-grabbing sub-4% deals generally need a big deposit (around 40%) and often come with a chunky product fee, so the lowest advertised rate isn't always the cheapest overall. Second, if you're coming off a fixed deal onto your lender's standard variable rate, that average is still around 7.35%, far above what a new fixed or tracker would cost, which is exactly why it pays to sort your next deal in good time rather than drifting onto the SVR.
What it means for you: if your current deal ends within the next six months, you can usually line up a new rate now and have it ready for the day your fix ends, then switch again if something better appears before completion. Our guide to mortgage rates and remortgage guide walk through the timing, and the overpayment calculator shows what a lower rate could free up.
🏦 Base rate: steady, with July's decision next
The Bank of England's base rate remains at 3.75%, where it has sat all year since the Monetary Policy Committee held it again on 18 June. The next decision lands on 30 July. As of early July, financial markets were leaning towards the Bank holding rates at 3.75% for the rest of the year, though the outlook is far from settled, with the path of energy prices and inflation still the big unknowns.
What it means for you: a steady base rate is part of why fixed-rate pricing has calmed down. But remember the base rate and the rate you're actually offered aren't the same thing, fixed deals move with swap rates, which can shift well before the Bank does anything. If you're on a tracker or SVR, the 30 July decision is the one to watch. Our guide to what happens when your fixed rate ends explains the choices.
💡 The energy price cap has gone up
A money note that lands on most households: Ofgem's energy price cap rose by 13% from 1 July for the July, September quarter, driven mainly by higher wholesale gas prices. For a typical household on a standard variable tariff paying by direct debit, that means unit rates of around 26.11p per kWh for electricity (with a 57.19p daily standing charge) and 7.33p per kWh for gas (29.04p daily standing charge). The cap limits unit rates and standing charges, not your total bill, so what you actually pay still depends on how much you use.
What it means for you: the cap only affects those on a default or standard variable tariff, if you're on a fixed energy deal, this rise doesn't touch you. It's worth checking whether a fixed tariff would beat the capped rate before the next review (Ofgem publishes the October, December level by 26 August). And if higher bills are squeezing your budget, factoring that into any mortgage or remortgage decision is sensible, our repayment calculator helps you see the whole picture.
📝 The one bit of paperwork most homeowners put off: your will
If you own a home, you own the single biggest asset most families ever hold, and yet a large share of homeowners have never made a will, or have one that's badly out of date. It's the classic “I'll sort it later” job. This week's homeowner note is a nudge to actually do it, because the consequences of not having one fall on the people you'd least want to burden.
Here's why it matters when there's a property involved. If you die without a valid will, you're said to die “intestate”, and the law decides who inherits through a fixed set of rules of intestacy, not you. Those rules can produce outcomes people simply don't expect:
- Unmarried partners get nothing automatically. A partner you're not married to or in a civil partnership with has no automatic right to inherit under intestacy, no matter how long you've lived together or whose name is on the mortgage. A will is the way to protect them.
- Your estate may not pass the way you assume. If you're married with children, your spouse doesn't necessarily inherit everything, the estate can be split in ways that create difficult decisions about the family home.
- It can get slow and stressful. Sorting out who deals with everything, and who gets what, is harder and can take longer without a will, at the worst possible time for those left behind.
A few practical things worth knowing: making a will is usually straightforward and inexpensive; marriage or a new civil partnership normally revokes an existing will, so it needs redoing; and how a property is jointly owned (as “joint tenants” or “tenants in common”) affects what your will can actually do, which is one reason it's worth getting proper guidance rather than guessing.
Where DS Financial fits, and where it doesn't: making a will is a legal matter, not mortgage or financial advice, so for the will itself you'll want a solicitor or a qualified will writer. What Debbie at DS Financial can help with is the piece that sits alongside it, making sure any life cover is set up correctly (for example, written in trust, so a payout can reach your family quickly and cleanly) and that your protection matches the mortgage you're actually carrying. If you'd like that side sense-checked, just drop her a line. Our guides to writing life insurance in trust, protecting your mortgage and family and inheriting a property with a mortgage explain how these pieces connect. (Wills, probate and any inheritance tax planning sit outside mortgage advice, speak to a solicitor or estate planner for those.)
That's your week. If anything here raises a question about your own situation, just drop us a line, or have a no-pressure chat with Debbie at DS Financial.
General information, not financial advice. Figures correct at the time of writing (4 July 2026). Wills and inheritance tax planning are legal matters outside mortgage advice, speak to a solicitor or estate planner.
Sources: Nationwide House Price Index, June 2026 (published 1 July 2026), Bank of England base rate, Uswitch average UK mortgage rates (3 July 2026), Moneyfacts (mortgages), Ofgem, energy price cap 1 July, 30 September 2026, GOV.UK, rules of intestacy.