ITV News Index – Interest Rates

ComRes interviewed 2,021 British adults online between 1^st and 3^rd August 2014. Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

 

Date Published: 05 Aug 2014

Categories: Economy | Financial Services | Health | Public and communities | UK

Description

 

COMRES / ITV NEWS POLL: HALF OF MORTGAGE HOLDERS CUT SPENDING IN ANTICIPATION OF INTEREST RATE RISE

 

Interest Rates

As the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee prepares to makes its announcement on interest rates, the latest News Index poll conducted by ComRes for ITV News reveals that half (49%) of mortgage holders are currently cutting back on spending in case a rate rise happens soon. Just two in five (39%) say that this is not the case for them while 12% don’t know.

It’s not just mortgage holders who are cutting back, one third (35%) of all British adults are cutting spending for the same reasons.

Britons are divided about what effect such a rise in interest rates would have on their personal finances: 28% say it would have a negative impact on their personal finances, while the same proportion (27%) say it would have a positive impact.

Half (53%) of homeowners without a mortgage think that it would have a positive effect on their personal financial situation, while half (55%) of homeowners with a mortgage think it would have a negative effect. One in six (17%) homeowners with a mortgage think it would have a very negative effect on their personal finances.

Ebola

Four in ten (41%) Britons think that the current outbreak of ebola in Africa presents a serious threat to Britain. Just one in five Brits (22%) think it is just another media scare story like Bird Flu or the Millennium Bug.

Despite Professor Peter Piot, who helped discover ebola, saying he would sit next to someone with the virus on the tube, the public overwhelmingly do not share this sentiment. Just 6% of Britons say that they would not mind sitting next to someone with ebola on the train.

Around two in five Britons (39%) say that they are worried about an outbreak of ebola in the UK, just below the proportion worried about another recession happening (49%) or a war starting between Russia and Britain’s allies (45%).

Following a number of recent air disasters, one in four Britons (27%) say that they are worried about flying on airplanes, including one in ten (9%) who are very worried.


METHODOLOGY: ComRes interviewed 2,021 British adults online between 1st and 3rd August 2014. Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Results will run on ITV News at 1.30pm, 6.30pm and Ten 

METHODOLOGY: ComRes interviewed 2,021 British adults online between 1^st and 3^rd August 2014. Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.