Lenders’ mixed response to April base rate cut

Latest figures from financial website, Moneyfacts.co.uk, show that 38% of the UK’s mortgage lenders have responded to the Bank of England’s cut in the base rate, made earlier this month.

The majority, including Halifax, Abbey, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide, have passed on the full 0.25% reduction to customers with loans on standard variable rates (SVRs).

Some of the smaller building societies have been reluctant to take the full plunge: Loughborough Building Society has cut its SVR by 0.15% to 6.85%; Derbyshire Building Society by 0.16% to 7.09%; Cheshire and Beverley building societies have both opted for a 0.20% cut, to 7.14% and 6.40% respectively.

However, Denise Harvey, a mortgage analyst at Moneyfacts, points out that the top seven lenders in terms of the number of SVR products they provide, have remained silent on April’s base rate cut.

Meanwhile, 26 mortgage lenders have increased rates on variable tracker products to new borrowers in the past month, by an average of 0.28%.

The RBS has raised its tracker rates by up to 1.20%.

Average two and five year fixed-rate mortgages have also risen from 6.29% to 6.52%, according to Moneyfacts’ data.

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