Governor of The Bank of England, Mark Carney has suggested that UK interest rates could rise at ‘the turn of the year’. Mark Carney was speaking at Lincoln Cathedral Interest rates have been stuck at 0.5% since March 2009.

It’s 8 years ago since rates were last hiked up. No-one is expecting a hike in the coming months, any rise is going to be a lot slower, maybe moving towards 1.25% or 1.5% before rising to anywhere around 2% within three years. Obviously a lot of this is still dependent on the economy and financial climate.

Mr Carney warned that it is unrealistic to expect interest rates to return to their pre recession heights. However, half of the historical average is likely. This would put interest rates anywhere between 2% and 2.5%.

It isn’t clear if the ‘turn of the year’ means late 2015 or early 2016. If the news broke over the festive season it could be a very good, over due Christmas present for a lot of people.