In the wake of some mortgage products going below 4% at the end of February, Santander, Barclays, TSB and HSBC have cut their rates once again.
Read on for a round-up of some of the recent moves.
Santander slashes rates
On 12 March, the bank said it had lowered buy-to-let (BTL) affordability rates so clients could borrow more when buying or remortgaging.
For standard deals, the affordability rate has been lowered from 7.15% to 6.99%, while its five-year fixed rate and pound-for-pound remortgage rate have been cut from 5.15% to 4.99%.
The lender said full mortgage applications submitted from 12 March will be assessed under the new lending policy and material changes to existing applications from 6am will be reassessed under the new lending policy.
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Then, the very next day, the bank announced it will lower most fixed rates in its new business range, as well as select product transfer rates.
The lender’s changes will come into effect from 14 March, with first-time buyer rates cut by 0.25%, homemover rates being lowered by up to 0.16% and new-build rates decreasing by around 0.11%.
Santander added that it was lowering residential remortgage rates by up to 0.12% and lowering its BTL remortgage fixed rates at 65% loan to value (LTV) by up to 0.03%.
Within its first-time buyer range, all two-, three- and five-year fixed rates between 60% and 95% LTV are falling by up to 0.25%, while select three-year fixed rates for new builds between 60% and 95% LTV will decrease by around 0.1%.
For first-time buyer large loans, all two- and five-year fixed rates at 60% LTV will be reduced by around 0.05%.
For Santander’s residential homemover deals, most two-, three- and five-year fixed rates from 60% to 95% LTV will decrease by up to 0.16%, while most three-year fixed rates for residential homemover new-build deals from 60% to 95% LTV will fall by around 0.11%.
All residential homemover large loans on two- and five-year fixed rates at 60% LTV will reduce by around 0.05%.
Most two-, three- and five-year fixed residential remortgage rates from 60% to 90% LTV will decrease by around 0.12%, and all two- and five-year fixed rates at 60% LTV in its residential remortgage range will be cut by up to 0.05%.
In Santander’s product transfer range, the firm said there will be cuts of up to 0.12% on select residential fixed rates and reductions of 0.03% on 75% LTV BTL fixed rates.
Barclays’ rate cuts
The bank has made a series of mortgage rate cuts, with pricing as low as 3.98%.
This applies to its existing borrower reward range, where a five-year fix at 60% LTV with a £999 fee has been cut from 4.12% to 3.98%.
Within the same range, Barclays has reduced the equivalent two-year fixed rate by 0.14% to 4.06%.
Meanwhile, the corresponding fee-free two-year fix has been cut by 0.07% to 4.36%, and the fee-free five-year fix has been lowered from 4.26% to 4.14%.
Other existing customer reward products up to 90% LTV have also seen reductions, including deals on two- and five-year terms with either fixed or tracker rates.
Elsewhere, Barclays lowered rates across its purchase products for existing borrowers with a £1,999 fee, including a two-year fix at 85% LTV, which has been cut from 4.72% to 4.67%, and the five-year fix, which has been reduced from 4.76% to 4.63%.
Select purchase and remortgage product rates have also been cut.
Cuts from TSB
TSB will cut residential, BTL, product transfer and additional borrowing rates by up to 0.15%.
Within its residential range, two- and five-year fixed first-time buyer and homemover deals from 85% to 95% LTV will be cut by up to 0.1%.
Two- and five-year fixed remortgage deals at 75-90% LTV and three-year fixed remortgage products from 75% to 85% LTV will be lowered by around 0.15%.
Within its BTL range, two- and five-year fixed house purchase deals along with five-year fixed remortgage products from 60% to 75% LTV will decrease by around 0.1%. Similar changes have also been made to two-year fixed remortgage deals from 60% to 80% LTV.
On the product transfer side, the lender has introduced residential three- and five-year fixed deals with a £1,495 fee up to 75% LTV.
Also in its product transfer range, residential two- and five-year fixed rate deals from 75% to 90% LTV have fallen by 0.1%, and residential three-year fixed rates between 75% and 85% LTV have decreased by up to 0.1%.
Five-year fixed rates with no fee up to 75% LTV have risen by around 0.05%.
In TSB’s additional borrowing range, residential two- and three-year fixed rate products between 75% and 80% LTV have been cut by up to 0.05%, while residential five-year fixed rates from 75% to 80% LTV have decreased by up to 0.1%.
Residential five-year fixed rates up to 75% LTV have increased by up to 0.05%.
Rates from HSBC also decrease
HSBC is boosting the maximum LTV for select BTL loans and lowering select residential rates.
The lender said the maximum LTV for its BTL mortgage range will be upped to 80% for loans up to £400,000, and the new range has rates beginning from 5%.
HSBC said the changes to its BTL range mean that borrowers can buy a property with a smaller deposit.
The firm noted that it was reducing rates on hundreds of residential mortgages across all LTVs and different buyer types, with the changes coming into effect on 12 March.
Changes are being made across its entire residential mortgage range, with cuts of up to 0.2% for two-year fixed rates and 0.17% for five-year fixed rates.
For example, its two-year fixed rate for home purchase and first-time buyers at 90% LTV with a £999 fee has been cut by 0.14% to 4.85% and its fee-free version has been lowered by 0.2% to 5.15%. Both come with £250 cashback.
The two-year fixed rate range for premier remortgage customers starts from 4.11% at 60% LTV with a £999 fee.
Oli O’Donoghue, HSBC UK’s head of mortgages, said: “We are continually evolving to help people with their home buying aspirations, whether that is someone buying their first home to help provide financial security for their family, someone coming to the UK from abroad and putting down roots or someone looking to take on a buy-to-let property to supplement their income.
“There is still strong demand in the buy-to-let market, and by increasing the maximum LTV on our range up to 80% LTV, we are making purchasing a buy-to-let property more accessible to people and providing greater flexibility, enabling a reduced deposit and increasing the borrowing power of the applicant.”
This article is based on ones that were first published on YourMoney.com‘s sister site, Mortgage Solutions
