Santander to hike their SVR by 0.5%

Santander has written to thousands of their mortgage customers to tell them that they intend to increase their standard variable rate from 4.24% to 4.74%. The change is likely to take effect from the October 3. According the bank, the move has been prompted by several factors, in a statement they said: “The fact that for the last three years the amount it costs us to provide mortgages and the rates we offer our savings customers have been increasing despite the base rate remaining static. "Additionally, the cost of running a bank in the UK has increased dramatically through a combination of increased liquidity, capital and funding requirements." Aaron Strutt, a broker at Trinity Financial, told the BBC: "If you are sitting on your lender's standard variable rate, there is always a danger your lender will hike your monthly repayments without much notice. "There are some fantastically good remortgage deals available so it's a good time to look at switching lenders." August 24, 2012