This graph shows the Bank of England Base Rates Since 1970.

It demonstrates the volatility in the base rate in the years preceding 1993 and should perhaps be taken into consideration when choosing whether to opt for a fixed or variable rate mortage.

This second chart plots the median expected movement over the next two years. The data comes from a poll of indepedent forecasters conducted by the financial information service Reuters.

The current consensus is that the base rate will not start to move until the end of 2010, and will then gradually rise during 2011.

However, economist's predictions are notoriously inaccurate and the base rate could in fact move upwards much faster if inflation becomes or a problem, or could stay low for longer if the UK economy fails to register a strong recovery.