More lenders reducing mortgage rates

I hope you are well. Several lenders have reduced their rates over the last day or two, and hopefully, everything is going in the right direction. It all hinges on what will happen to the next figures when the latest inflation figures are released and following that, what the bank will do at its next monetary policy committee meeting. But for the moment, I have got three or four of you who are not all excited, but one or two are better than the others.

– Firstly, we have the TSB. Now, they’ve reduced their rates by 0.1%. Was it worth bothering, really?

– Now, here’s an interesting one. The Skipton Building Society has introduced what they’re calling a “lifesaver rate.” It’s for existing borrowers who are struggling with repayments, and they’re offering a 2-year fixed rate at 3.35%. But this has a large fee. Okay, they’re beating the Bank of India rate that was 3.99%, was it, with a large fee that was released 2-3 weeks ago. This is at 3.35%, but again, it’s fixed for 2 years, but the fee is quite large. It has its good side, but it also has its disadvantages because in some ways, it is taking advantage of their borrowers who are struggling with higher rates. So, they’ll go for this low fixed-rate deal, but they’ll be hit with an additional 5% being whacked on their mortgage balance, which is unethical as far as I’m concerned, but there you go.

– The co-op has reduced their mortgage rates by up to 0.5%.

– And the largest drop so far has been the Mortgage Works, which has reduced their rates by 0.75%. So, their rates now start at 4.84% for 55% loan to value, 4.89% for 65% loan to value, and 5.14% for 75% loan to value. They have a 3% fee, which is still significantly higher than what it used to be, but it’s better than 5%. I still think that’s too high. I still think there’s room for further drops. So again, as I have been saying for the last couple of months, hang in there. I’m hoping to see sub-4% with a reasonable fee by the end of the year if you can hang it out that long. But that is my gut feeling. It is not a qualified FCA advisor’s professional opinion because I am not an FCA advisor. My forte is property. So this is simply my opinion, and once again, you must get professional advice.

– If your mortgage deal has ended or is ending soon, then the sooner you contact a broker, the sooner you can have a broker make sure your broker is a whole-of-the-market broker and not tied anywhere. And not all whole-of-the-market brokers are the same despite what they may tell you because there are lenders who will not entertain a whole-of-the-market broker that is not part of a large panel. So they’re not always exactly the same thing, and not all whole-of-the-market brokers can offer you everything that is actually available on the market at the moment. Choose your broker carefully, and the sooner they have your details and they know what you are looking for and what your position is, then the sooner they can start forwarding you new deals as they come in. And as soon as you do see a deal that fits with your criteria that you know you can afford for the next two or three years, then it may be worth to go for that and lock it in because who knows what will happen today or tomorrow or the day after. From last week to this week, we have new war in the Middle East. Who knows what effect that will have on the Middle East and the greater economy? So anything could change things. Anyway, that’s all for now. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch anytime you like. Thank you very much, and I’ll see you next time. Bye-bye for now.