One of the biggest mortgage providers in the UK, the Halifax, has announced more interest rate reductions on several of its home loan products.
The average mortgage rate reduction made by the Halifax is 0.25 percent, with most of its main tracker and fixed rate products enjoying this cut. Potential customers should be aware that they need to put down a deposit of at least 25 percent in order to receive this lower rate.
A Halifax spokesman explained that they were passing on recent reductions in the cost of borrowing that the banks charge each other, feeling it is in the interest of the market to offer the very best possible rate whenever possible.
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.
A number of Abbey National mortgages have had their rates of interest reduced it was announced today, though the reductions are very modest.
All Abbey National tracker and flexible rate mortgages are seeing an interest rate cut of 0.05 percent, whilst some of the fixed rate mortgages are coming down by 0.17 percent. The ones seeing these bigger reductions are the safer options for the lender, namely seventy-five percent loan to value mortgages. This means the borrower had to put down a deposit of twenty-five percent. The five year fixed rate for this sort of Abbey National mortgage is therefore down from 5.92 percent to 5.75 percent.
An Abbey National mortgages spokesperson explained that the focus of the lender was to offer choice and value. To this end they have reduced rates on a variety of mortgages as the opportunity has arisen in order to deliver competitive products to their customers.
Find the best rate on an Abbey National mortgage at Moneygossip.co.uk
