“All the lenders are fighting for the number one spot on the leader board when it comes to the lowest 60% loan to value rates,” commented mortgage broker and protection specialist, Ken James (pictured left), from Contractor Mortgage Services. “Sub 4% rates are now starting to appear thick and fast.
“First, there was NatWest’s direct to lender offering of 3.97%, then HSBC have moved ahead – just – with their 3.92% rate, but we have now seen Barclays want to take the lead with a 3.84% rate announced. Whilst these deals won’t help everyone, as you require a 40% deposit, it does lead the way for rates in the higher loan-to-value brackets to reduce. We can hope to move away from 5%-plus rates for clients.”
James added: “We are seeing more enquiries from new clients, along with our existing ones looking to secure more competitive rates as they head towards the end of their current deals – all in all, a very promising last quarter ahead of us.”
Rate changes have become more newsworthy in recent years, according to Serena Smith (pictured second from left), a mortgage and protection specialist at Mortgages with Serena. The increasing attention creates further intrigue, she believes.
“Rate wars are my favourite type of wars!” Smith quipped. “Let’s be honest, lenders know they haven’t hit their targets this year, so they will need to drop rates to spike activity. It’s a struggle to keep up with the repricing of rates currently, and as a further BoE rate cut is predicted, together with swap rates reducing, it looks like we could be seeing further interest rate reductions.”