Here is a quick summary of the key changes and announcements in the mortgage market for this week:

• The Bank of England has held base rates at 0.5% for the 62nd consecutive month. They have also kept Quantitative Easing to £375bn. The BoE had originally set a Forward Guidance plan that rates could change once unemployment dipped below 7% but this was quickly added to with other factors.
• The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has announced that mortgage arrears are at its lowest level for 6 years. The first quarter of 2014, arrears fell to 138,000 from 159,000, the lowest drop since the second quarter of 2008.
• Halifax has withdrawn its hugely successful Stamp Duty incentive scheme products and replaced them with refunded valuations.