The Bank of England's monetary policy committee's (MPC) decision to keep interest rates at 4.5 per cent for the sixth month in a row was yesterday welcomed by a leading source of property knowledge.

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee's (MPC) decision to keep interest rates at 4.5 per cent for the sixth month in a row was yesterday welcomed by a leading source of property knowledge.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) believes that the property market "has been maintained" since last summer.

Rics chief economist Milan Khatri said that property sales had increased during the last year and that the number of new buyers on the market had risen for seven consecutive months.

Mr Khatri urged the Bank of England's MPC to consider an interest rate cut in spring, citing inflationary pressures, unemployment and a "fragile" manufacturing industry as reasons for doing so.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research, a financial thinktank, also believes that the MPC may want to lower interest rates because it believes the housing market will not be strong enough to support consumers through the rest of this year.