Barclays, HSBC, Halifax, Santander and NatWest in mortgage rate war
by Rory Poulter · Manchester Evening NewsFive 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."
(Image: Getty)
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.