Barclays, HSBC, Halifax, Santander and NatWest in mortgage rate war

Five mortgage lenders are slashing their rates to get a grip on the resurgent housing market. Barclays, HSBC, Halifax, Santander, and NatWest are trimming interest rates on mortgage deals for an array of customers including first-time buyers, those looking to remortgage, and buy-to-let landlords.

Rightmove's research shows that a first-time buyer who takes out a five-year fixed loan for around £225,000 is currently paying about £1,085 monthly, saving around £92 per month from last year. Thanks to another wave of rate cuts, the cheapest five-year fix has reduced from 4.28 percent to 3.69 percent lately.

Additionally, some mortgage brokers predict five-year fixes could fall close to 3 percent by year-end. On another front, financial heavyweights like Nationwide have eased lending criteria, letting first-time purchasers borrow up to six times their earnings and providing loans up to £750,000.

Mortgage broker SPF Private Clients' CEO Mark Harris remarked: "This ongoing rate war among lenders is great news for borrowers as there are some really compelling deals being launched, which will go some way to helping affordability."

Barclays has unveiled a series of cuts primarily aimed at first-time buyers and home movers, including several sub 4 percent deals for those with larger deposits. For instance, its lowest two-year fixed rate for buyers with a 40 percent deposit or more has been reduced to 3.99 percent from today.

Barclays is also lowering rates across its springboard and mortgage guarantee products designed for first-time buyers struggling to raise a deposit. These allow family or friends to provide a 10 percent deposit as security for five years, which is placed into a Helpful Start account that earns interest and is returned after five years.

HSBC is reducing interest rates on its two-year and five-year fixed mortgages for both home movers and first time-buyers by up to 0.25 percentage points. Consequently, its lowest five-year fixed rate for those remortgaging with at least a 40 percent equity is now priced at 3.83 percent.

HSBC has also made additional reductions in the higher loan-to-value ranges for first-time-buyers, offering 4.16 percent to those fixing for five years with a 20 percent deposit. The deal also offers £350 cashback. Halifax is reducing mortgage rates on selected products by up to 0.11 percentage points for home movers and first-time buyers. Rates for people who are remortgaging are being lowered by up to 0.24 percentage points.

Santander and NatWest are implementing rate cuts across a broad spectrum of new loans starting today. This will allow Santander to offer a five-year fixed-rate mortgage for home buyers with the largest deposits at a mere 3.68 percent. Similarly, NatWest is introducing substantial reductions across fixed-rate deals targeted at home buyers, those remortgaging, and landlords.