
Should I ditch my tracker mortgage and lock in?
Q. We have been on a tracker mortgage since September, biding our time for some meaningful rate drops, although we are increasingly keen on getting a fixed deal sorted and forgetting about it for a while. Given we have waited this long, should we hold out for some more interest rate cuts before locking in?Name supplied
What might happen to interest rates this year and next is the golden question for mortgage borrowers and one that I hear often.
This month the Bank of England reduced the base rate from 4.5 per cent to 4.25 per cent, which was good news for mortgage borrowers. The markets are predicting more interest rate cuts this year and next. In a fight for more customers, banks and
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Telegraph
43 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Amazon sellers hit by ‘massive delays'
Amazon sellers are warning of 'massive delays' at one of the online retailer's flagship UK warehouses ahead of its Prime Day sales event next month. Some small businesses have complained that deliveries to the online giant's warehouse have not been accepted for weeks – with claims that trucks have been turned away from one of Amazon's vast fulfilment centres in Nottingham because staff say they are 'full'. Third-party Amazon sellers typically send their products to the online giant's fulfilment centres before they are shipped to customers. Laura Crawford, the founder of baby products business Mama Bamboo, claimed bungled deliveries and delays of more than a month had cost her business £20,000. Ms Crawford said she had threatened legal action against Amazon over the delays. On Amazon's seller forums, multiple small sellers have complained of 'massive delays' at the warehouse, with packages going missing for weeks. One seller complained: 'We've had thousands of pounds of stock being turned away for weeks.' A source close to Amazon insisted its delivery network was operating normally and that there were no unexpected delays at the warehouse. The company is currently preparing for Amazon Prime Day, its annual sale, a particularly busy time for the online retailer. Ms Crawford said her business was 'at the mercy' of giants such as Amazon and despite corresponding with John Boumphrey, Amazon's UK chief, the issue had not been resolved. She said her deliveries had been handled by Swiss transport company Kuehne + Nagel. In an email seen by the Telegraph, Kuehne + Nagel representatives said Amazon staff have been 'telling drivers they are full' and that it was 'causing issues with our relationships with the vendors'. Ms Crawford said she was 'wholly accountable for every delivery to our customers', but that Amazon 'do not take any such accountability for failures to their sellers'. An Amazon spokesman said: 'The build up to Prime Day is always a busy period for our operation. If any of our sellers should experience any issues, we will do all we can to support.' When contacted by The Telegraph, Amazon said Ms Crawford's delivery had been accepted as of Friday. Late payments The delay claims come a week after Amazon was rapped by Britain's groceries regulator over alleged late payments to suppliers. The Groceries Code Adjudicator, which has the power to fine Britain's biggest retailers up to 1pc of turnover for breaches under an industry code of conduct, said it was investigating Amazon's supplier practices after multiple complaints. In a report from the regulator, Amazon came bottom in a survey detailing complaints by suppliers against retailers. It found 13pc of grocery suppliers said they had raised a complaint with Amazon in the past year, compared to 3pc at the next-worst retailer. Of the investigation, an Amazon spokesman said: 'While we are disappointed with this decision, we welcome the opportunity to further demonstrate our ongoing compliance. 'We have already made significant improvements to our grocery supplier experience, including to payment practices, with supplier contacts on this reducing year-on-year.'


The Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Sun
Britain's fastest-selling used cars revealed as ‘cheap yet very well equipped' SUV tops the charts
THE UK'S fastest selling car of the month has been revealed by Auto Trader. Taking an average of just 15 days to sell in June, the MG HS sold two weeks faster than the average car in the country. 1 Additionally, the average SUV has been selling at an average of 29 days. Marc Palmer, Head of Strategy and Insight at Auto Trader said: 'Car buyers are still attracted by great value, which the HS offers in spades, and the fact it's selling a fortnight faster than the national average highlights just how popular it is. Sales of used cars have also seen an increase, at 29 days which is a day faster than June last year, and two days faster than the same period in 2023. Palmer added: 'The speed at which used cars sell is an accurate barometer of the strength of the used car market and our data suggests it remains in very robust health as we enter the summer months, as reflected in May's record 86.3 million site visits. 'As ever, there's huge nuance in the market, so I'd really encourage retailers to analyse the data and insights available to help spot the most profitable stock for your forecourt.' The fastest selling body type of cars were hatchbacks, which accounted for 50 per cent of the top ten sales, as well as convertibles in June. They have both taken around 28 days to sell. On top of that, petrol cars make up the greatest proportion of "hottest" models in the UK. It has been the fastest selling fuel type overall, taking around 28 days. Hybrid and diesel cars follow petrol as the second most fuel types in demand, which both take 31 days to sell. Iconic motors roar into London from rare 90s Bugatti to £60k Capri Electric vehicles are still lagging behind these slightly, at an average of 32 days. Used EV, however, have sold at a faster rate by three days when compared to this time last month, which was at 35 days. This reflects broad trends, with Brits favouring cars more than a year old. "Nearly new" cars that were aged less than 12 months old were the slowest to sell overall. The e 5-10 year old cars have been shifting the quickest, selling in 27 days. June's top 10 fastest selling used cars MG MG HS – Body type: SUV; Fuel Type: Petrol; Age Cohort: Up to 1 Year; Avg. Days to Sell: 15 Vauxhall Corsa – Body type: Hatchback; Fuel Type: Petrol; Age Cohort: Up to 1 Year; Avg. Days to Sell: 16 Volkswagen Golf – Body type: Hatchback; Fuel Type: Petrol; Age Cohort: Up to 1 Year; Avg. Days to Sell: 16.6 Audi A3 – Body type: Hatchback; Fuel Type: Petrol Plug-in Hybrid; Age Cohort: 3 to 5 Years; Avg. Days to Sell: 18 Mazda CX-5 – Body type: SUV; Fuel Type: Diesel; Age Cohort: 5 to 10 Years; Avg. Days to Sell: 19 Vauxhall Crossland X – Body type: SUV; Fuel Type: Petrol; Age Cohort: 5 to 10 Years; Avg. Days to Sell: 19.5 Skoda Fabia – Body type: Hatchback; Fuel Type: Petrol; Age Cohort: 3 to 5 Years; Avg. Days to Sell: 20 BMW 3 Series – Body type: Saloon; Fuel Type: Petrol Plug-in Hybrid; Age Cohort: 3 to 5 Years; Avg. Days to Sell: 20 Hyundai TUCSON – Body type: SUV; Fuel Type: Petrol; Age Cohort: 3 to 5 Years; Avg. Days to Sell: 20.5 Volvo XC40 – Body type: SUV; Fuel Type: Petrol Plug-in Hybrid; Age Cohort: 3 to 5 Years; Avg. Days to Sell: 20.5 The data from Auto Trader shows that more than half (60 per cent) of the top ten fastest selling cars are SUVs. These include the Mazda CX-5, Volvo XC40, Hyundai Tuscon, and Vauxhall Crossland X, which have all provided quick turnaround for dealers. Used convertibles have also seen a significant spike in demand over the month, despite no models making it into the month's top sales list. This may be due to rising temperatures in recent weeks, where they sold four days faster than in May at an average of 32 days. They also took a week faster than June last year, at 35 days.


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
M&S shoppers fury as many of their favourite products including Colin the Caterpillar are STILL unavailable on the website after cyber attack
Shoppers have been furious after they are still unable to buy items like sports bras, jeans and even Colin the Caterpillar. Some items such as Clinique foundation and Wrangler jeans as well some Reebok sports bras and Colin the Caterpillar birthday cake are among the thousands of products yet to be available more than two months after a cyberattack crippled the major retailer's website. Although the retailer has recently brought back a limited selection of third-party brands like Adidas, Columbia, and Lilybod, many ranges are still missing or offering only limited stock. Delivery times for customers in England, Scotland, and Wales have now been cut from ten days to five, but click-and-collect and next-day delivery remain unavailable. Meanwhile, shoppers in Northern Ireland still can't get home delivery at all, according to The Times. The sluggish recovery has left customers questioning the delay. The website was down for 51 days, and although it is now back online, service remains far from normal. Before the cyberattack, the average recovery time following a cyberattack was just 22 days, according to research published last year, making this incident one of the most prolonged online outages in recent retail memory. M&S have said that its full range of products as well as normal delivery times will be returning 'over the coming weeks' did not elaborate on how many of those are back online. A source told the newspaper that it is more than a half. An expert has said 'an abundance of caution' may be behind the delay, with the retail likely to be rebuilding its systems from scratch rather than trying to save its existing software. Professor Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey said: 'They probably did this because the criminals are very good at building malware that can persist and hide in little nooks and crannies on your network.' He suggests that the tech team working with the retail giant is probably going 'the extra mile' as the brand's reputation is on the line. When approached, a source told the newspaper: 'The last thing we want to do is let customers down, promising to fulfil an order in a specific timescale and then not do it.' The retailer continues to insist that its recovery is ahead of schedule, although Prof Woodward said he is surprised at the delay. Since relaunching the site, the retailer's main focus appears to be restocking summer clothing, likely in a bid to clear a backlog of unsold seasonal stock before the sunshine disappears.