Some Abbey National mortgage customers, specifically those looking for fixed rate mortgages, are facing rate increases of up to 0.56 percent. This comes only a week after rates were reduced by the company.
The biggest increases are in the short term period fixed rate mortgages, with the 3 year one going up to 6.49 percent from 5.93 percent. The Abbey National is citing a major increase in swap rates for the rises, feeling they will force the Bank of England to increase the base rate.
An Abbey spokesman, aiming to explain the shifts in interest rate commented on their strong market position enabling them to reduce mortgage interest rates last week, but this latest news has forced them to increase them again.
The recent suggestion about the Alliance and Leicester being taken over by a larger European financial institution has been seen as both a good and bad thing by some experts.
On the one hand the Alliance and Leicester having strong financial support from a much bigger player would instil confidence in customers and probably drive more people to use them. That is a short term scenario though, with the potential longer term one being a market that has less choice.
When organisations join together there is a natural culling of duplicate products and a streamlining of the range – this would be no different with the Alliance and Leicester it has been suggested. Less choice means limited options for mortgage buyers and the likelihood that costs will ultimately be higher.
The Halifax is to close over 50 of its estate agent branches across the country with the loss of around a hundred jobs.
The move by the Halifax comes on the back of what they have described as a significant decline in house sale numbers over the last 12 months. The heart of the Halifax estate agency business is in the North and Midlands, and it is here that they will focus most of their efforts moving forwards.
Around 550 people will find their estate agency branches closing but the Halifax will be able to relocate most of these people, with a hundred that will hopefully be taken up primarily through voluntary redundancies and natural staff turnover.
