© The Herald
Originally published: 06.02.2009

Homeowners received a boost yesterday as interest rates were cut to a new record low and figures showed house prices rose during January.

Around four million people are set to see their mortgage repayments fall as a result of the Bank of England's decision to reduce the base rate to 1%.

Four of the UK's biggest mortgage lenders said they would be passing on the cut of half a percentage point in full to their standard variable rate (SVR) customers. Meanwhile, Halifax released figures showing that house prices unexpectedly rose by 1.9% during January.

Homeowners have seen an average of nearly £36,000 wiped off the value of their properties since prices peaked in July 2007, leaving the average home costing £163,966.

Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, Halifax and Barclays are all reducing their SVR by the full 0.5%.