Woolwich cuts rates and launches lifetime tracker

Woolwich is cutting mortgage interest rates for the second time in two weeks.

The lender, which is part of the Barclays group, is reducing the rate on its 10-year fixed-rate deal by 0.32 percentage points, to 5.94%.

Rates on three-year and five-year fixes will fall by 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.

The move follows rate cuts by a number of lenders in the past fortnight and provides further evidence that money market swap rates, which determine rates on fixed loans, are finally coming down.

However, mortgage experts are warning that lower rates are not the entire solution to the downturn in property prices because lenders’ criteria are still excluding many potential homebuyers from the market.

Recent cuts in mortgage interest rates have been reserved for first-time buyers with a 25% deposit, or in the case of remortgagers, those with a large amount of equity in their homes.

Woolwich is also launching a Lifetime Tracker at 5.69% (0.69% above base rate) for the life of the mortgage and has pledged that this, along with its other new products, will be available direct or through a broker at the same rate.

A 60% loan to value ratio applies to all the new loans, along with an initial fee of £995.

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