Over half of mortgage intermediaries expect the Bank Rate to start rising in the first half of next year, according to research by Kensington.

A survey of 630 intermediaries found that 53% think Bank Rate will start increasing in the first six months of 2012, while 24% predict it will begin to rise later this year.

A further 13% say that interest rates will not start rising until the second half of 2012, and 7% expect Bank of England Base Rate to remain at its historic low until 2013.

Charles Morley, head of sales at Kensington, said: “While our research is not unanimous