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Mortgage rates will not fall further, warns Virgin

Cherry Reynard
Written By:
Cherry Reynard
Posted:
Updated:
09/03/2015

Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia has warned borrowers that mortgage rates are unlikely to fall further.

Mortgage rates have fallen to historic lows in recent times but the bank boss told borrowers not to wait for much longer if they want to take advantage.

Speaking to the Telegraph Gadhia (pictured) said that the financial restrictions placed on banks meant rates had little chance of falling lower.

“I would have thought that, given the capital position of banks and the leverage ratio, we’re probably in a place where it’s unlikely the price will go down further,” she said. “Certainly the market’s as competitive as I can remember it. The mortgage market has opened this year lower than it did last year, that’s fired competition.”

Figures released by the bank showed its mortgage balances grew 11.8% in the last financial year to reach £21.9bn. This means Virgin Money has around 4% of the total UK mortgage market.
“Our mortgage business remains high-quality, with an average loan-to-value of new lending of 67% and a buy-to-let exposure of around 15%,” Gadhia added.
“Impairments in our mortgage business reduced significantly during the course of the year.”