Housebuilders suffered another grim time in the City last week. The interest rate rises combined with concerns over the potential impact of the floods to drag prices down across the sector, despite signs of a rally as the markets closed on Friday.

Over the week, Taylor Wimpey was the worst performer, just before its interim results were announced on Tuesday. Its shares fell 11.9% to 293.75p. Berkeley Homes followed close behind, down 9.2% at £16.23, and Persimmon down 7.2% at £10.99.

However, Friday’s trading ended on a sunnier note for the sector, with Persimmon rising 21p during the day and rival Barratt up 14.5p to 904.5p. The movement, which suggests that fears of an immediately slowing housing market have been overplayed, was expected to continue this week. This was due to the fact that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee was expected to hold rates at 5.75 when it announced its monthly decision on Thursday.