Decent fixes still available

by Aaron Strutt

Feb 11 2011

A huge amount of lenders have increased or withdrawn their mortgage rates this week as, once again, rates have increased.

Skipton announced that they have withdrawn the majority of their mortgages and that they will not replace the most popular deals for ten days. Abbey, C&G, ING Direct, Coutts and The Nottingham B.S are just some of the lenders to make changes. ING Direct removed some of their five year fixes and Britannia withdrew their ten year mortgages.

Northern Rock increased two year fixes by 0.3% and five year fixes by 0.4%. In a break from the norm, Halifax reduced the price of many of their rates and some by as much as 0.7%.

Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, says: “It has been a particularly busy week as the cost of fixed rate mortgages in particular has increased. Once a lender starts to raise rates it often doesn't take long before we see other lenders follow - but this week they all seem to have made changes.

“For the moment fixes are certainly starting to increase but there are still some decent options. Two year fixes are still low and we have access to some great four year fixes at 3.99%. Woolwich like four year deals so much that they removed all five year fixes and replaced them with four year rates.

"We are expecting more rises over the coming weeks so if you are thinking about buying a property and you want to fix, it would be a good idea to secure a rate now.”

February 11, 2011