Rate cut to provide some hope to borrowers after 1 rate hikes

The rate cut will come as welcome relief to households struggling with the high cost of living.

Transcript

00:00Yeah, there will have been many people just waiting with bated breath for this announcement.

00:08And it will bring some relief to people who are mortgage holders. We're seeing mortgage

00:14holders who are under enormous amounts of financial stress and who are really just hanging

00:18in by a thread. So this will be welcome because of the hope that it represents, I suppose,

00:25easier times are to come. But we are not out of the woods yet. This is the beginning and

00:30it's a welcome sign of hope, but it will take some time before that relief is fully felt.

00:37Really the message is that while this is welcome, and we should all take that in our stride,

00:45if you are struggling right now, relief is not going to be forthcoming. So there needs

00:50to be a plan. People need to take the time to make a plan. So one of the things they

00:55can do is to hop onto the National Debt Helpline website, and that will give them a sense of

01:00what their options are and the kinds of things that are available to them if they are struggling

01:04right now. Over the last year, in 2024, we had a 12 to 13% increase in the number of

01:10calls and chats to the National Debt Helpline, and face-to-face services are reporting very

01:16high levels of demand. And what's interesting is that the people who are seeking services,

01:21it's broadening out. So we are seeing mortgage holders and people in employment along with

01:26renters and people experiencing homelessness. So it's a broader, deeper problem that we're

01:31dealing with over the last couple of years than we did in the years before the pandemic.

01:35Quite often, there are quite a few things that can be done. And the first thing to say

01:39is having a really good understanding of what your situation is often helps. Having the

01:45advice of a friendly ear with professional expertise who can run people through what

01:50their options are and what's available to them and to put a plan in place. What we hear

01:56from clients is that often that makes a world of difference.