The Bank of England raised the main interest rate by a quarter-point to 4.5 per cent today, in a move that economists said was partly aimed at tempering the buoyant housing market.
The monetary policy committee's (MPC) decision was expected to be close, with a Bloomberg poll finding 27 of 47 City economists forecasting a rise on Thursday.
Following May's increase, this is the first back-to-back move in more than four years and marks a break from the Bank's softly-softly approach.
Towards the end of last year the MPC was touting a "gradualist" approach as it tried to gauge how heavily indebted consumers coped with rate rises.
But with personal debt levels approaching Ј1 trillion and annual house price inflation reaccelerating to about 20 per cent, the MPC appears to have abandoned that stance.
Economists said this might mean rates settle at a lower level.
