Bank of England inflation attitudes survey ‘suggests the cost of living crisis still feels very real’

The Bank of England has this morning published its latest quarterly Inflation Attitudes survey.

From February 2022, the survey has been conducted on

The Bank of England’s has conducted a survey from February 2022 on behalf by Ipsos, prior to that it was conducted by Kantar.

Ipsos interviewed a quota sample of people aged between 16 to 75 across the UK the sample was surveyed between 10 and 13 May 2024.

Newspage asked brokers and financial services experts for their views, below. 

Andrew Montlake, managing director at Coreco said, “The fact that the current rate of inflation is perceived to be 5.5% suggests the cost of living crisis still feels very real.

“The slight uptick in people believing lower rates would be best for the economy may well reflect the continued strain many households with mortgages are under.

“It would be interesting to know how much weight the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee places on this data ahead of next week’s rate decision.

Samuel Mather-Holgate, independent financial advisor at Mather and Murray Financial said, “There is a clear split in this Bank of England survey. Though many in the UK would prefer higher rates, those with significant savings are dwarfed by people with significant debt.

“The effect of rate rises has been ubiquitous and everyone has felt the consequences of both global factors and Liz Truss’s brief spell in Number 10.

“This survey indicates that people are very aware of the impact rates are having on them, and the opinion polls also suggest that they are going to punish the incumbent party for the state of the country’s finances.”

Ben Perks managing director at Orchard Financial Advisers said, “The cost of living crisis is rumbling on, leaving borrowers in a bit of a spin.

“The movement in attitudes have been minute, but this is probably due to a reluctant acceptance of the new norm.

“This demonstrates that people think there’s a long way to go before things settle and whilst it’s advantageous for savers, borrowers are paying the price with each month that passes.”

Chris Barry, director at Thomas Legal said, “The data suggests that people are expecting inflation to fall but with housing costs and wages rising, I fear the opposite may happen.

“The issues that caused fuel and food to rise sharply have relaxed over recent months, but it seems the key parts of inflation we can control are not under control.

“This will lead to higher rates for longer unless they can be grabbed by the horns and wrestled to the ground.”