Santander has announced a reduction to the interest rates on its line of mortgage products.
Contrastingly, Nationwide revealed its mortgage rates would rise by up to 0.25 percentage points on Tuesday.
It comes after lenders Halifax and TSB said they were also raising rates on some of their products.
The mixed picture for mortgage rates comes after the Bank of England held its base rate at 5.25 percent earlier this month.
Santander has confirmed it has slashed all buy-to-let and selected residential mortgage rates by up to 0.16 percent.
Following Santander’s latest update, the residential interest rate changes from the lender include:
- 60 percent LTV two-year fixed rate, remortgage only with a £999 fee is now priced at 4.39 percent, down from 4.49 percent
- 60 percent LTV three-year fixed rate, remortgage only with a £999 fee is now priced at 4.39 percent, down from 4.44 percent
- 60 percent LTV five-year fixed rate remortgage only with £0 fee is now priced at 4.19 percent, down from 4.24 percent
- 75 percent LTV two-year fixed rate, remortgage only with a £999 fee is now priced at 4.53 percent, down from 4.69 percent.
All eyes on Wednesday will be on the Office for National Statistics’ release of the annual inflation figure up to January, with many believing it will go up marginally from the four percent recorded up to December.
Inflation directly impacts the swap rate charged to lenders – and so they will pass it on to customers in the mortgage rates they charge.
Santander’s buy-to-let products which have been reduced as of today:
- 60 percent LTV two-year fixed rate for purchase and remortgage with a £1749 fee is now priced at 4.49 percent, down from 4.64 per cent
- 60 percent LTV five-year fixed rate for purchase and remortgage with £1749 fee is now priced at 4.25 percent, down from 4.40 percent
- 75 percent LTV two-year fixed rate, for purchase and remortgage with £0 fee is now priced at 5.28 percent, down from 5.38 percent
- 75 percent LTV five-year fixed rate, for purchase and remortgage with £0 fee is now priced at 4.77 percent, down from 4.87 percent.
Figures from Moneyfacts showed the average two-year rate was 5.56 percent at the start of February, down from 5.93 percent in January.
This is the biggest monthly fall in more than a year. Meanwhile, average five-year fixed mortgage rates ticked down 0.37 percent to 5.18 percent.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: “There have been big expectations for fixed rates to fall further, and whether now is the right time to refinance will come down to an individual’s circumstances.
“Lenders are in constant review of their ranges, and it is likely rates will fluctuate in the coming weeks due to the noises surrounding future rate expectations.”
Despite reductions in fixed rates seen over the last few months, around 1.6m borrowers with even cheaper deals that expire this year face a steep rise in costs when they remortgage.
Some of these borrowers might currently be sitting on their lender’s standard variable rate (SVR), which is 8.17 percent on average as of the start of February.
Ms Springall added: “The average two- and five-year fixed rates are much lower than the average SVR. Seeking advice from an independent broker is wise to work out if an individual could save a decent sum on their monthly repayments by changing their mortgage deal.”
