Mortgage lenders pushing up the cost of their cheapest fixed rates

by Aaron Strutt

Oct 27 2021

Banks and building societies are increasing the cost of many of their cheapest fixed rates.

Some of the biggest lenders, including Nationwide Building Society, Santander, Halifax and HSBC for Intermediaries, have raised their rates over the last few days.

Santander made the most significant increases with some of its two and five-year fixes rising between 0.02% and 0.37%. Other rate rises have not been so large.

HSBC for Intermediaries still has the market-leading two-year fix priced at 0.89%, and it is available for borrowers with a 40% deposit. Other lenders have three and five-year fixes below just over 1%. 

Even though most borrowers take fixed mortgages, lenders have significantly increased the availability of trackers in recent months. Nationwide for Intermediaries has a two-year tracker priced at 0.79%, it has a £1,499 arrangement fee, and applications will need a 40% deposit to qualify. 

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "More of the lenders are pulling their sub-1% five-year fixes, and some of the two-year rates have gone up. Lots of the first-time buyer rates for those with smaller deposits have not increased in price.  

"There has been more talk the Bank of England will raise the base rate over the coming months, so it is a good time to lock into one of the cheap deals. Base rate tracker pretty much disappeared not that long ago, but they are back and particularly cheap, and often they have no early repayment charges." 

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7016 0790 to secure a mortgage or book a consultation