- By Kevin Peachey
- Cost of living correspondent
Image source, Getty Images
Mortgage rates should fall following the Bank of England’s decision to keep its key interest rate on hold, brokers say.
So far the response has been muted, with the Nationwide the only major lender to reduce mortgage rates since the Bank’s announcement was made.
Brokers expect more competition among lenders in the coming weeks.
But they warn that changes are likely to be slow, with little prospect of the Bank rate being cut in the near future.
It will bring immediate relief to 1.4 million people on tracker and standard variable rate (SVR) deals who have been seeing regular increases in their monthly repayments.
Even after rates were held, compared with December 2021, those on a tracker mortgage are paying £540 more a month, or £299 more a month on a SVR.
Around three-quarters of mortgage customers hold fixed-rate deals. Banking trade body UK Finance says there are about 800,000 of these deals ending in the second half of 2023, and about 1.6 million expiring next year.
Brokers said there was now a better chance of these borrowers getting mortgage rates of less than 5% when they renew.
“I expect more lenders will lower their fixed mortgage deals over the coming weeks,” said Aaron Strutt, from Trinity Financial. “Mortgage rates need to be closer to 4% to bring more confidence back to the market.
“There certainly is not a full-on price war at the moment, but rates are coming down as the cost of funding mortgages falls.”
The UK’s biggest building society, the Nationwide, reduced rates by up to 0.31 percentage points on Friday.
Other lenders have been nudging down the cost of their new fixed rate mortgages recently, including announcements from TSB before the Bank’s announcement on Thursday and NatWest on Wednesday.
Andrew Montlake, from broker Coreco, said the end of the string of Bank rate rises allowed lenders some “space” to cut their mortgage rates.
“This will be a slow and steady fall rather than anything dramatic and the current plateau looks like it will be a stable place for some time yet,” he said.
The latest figures show that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate fell slightly to 6.56% on Friday, compared with 6.58% on Thursday. The typical five-year fixed deal is 6.06%, according to the financial information service Moneyfacts.
Image source, Nicola Valentine
Nicola Valentine said she was “breathing a sigh of relief” on hearing that rates were being held.
But the tax accountant, from Isleham, Cambridgeshire, is still “hugely anxious” because her mortgage is due to go up by about £300 a month.
Her 2.9% fixed-rate mortgage deal expires in November. She has cancelled TV and gym subscriptions, and stopped buying new clothes and takeaways, but still does not know how she will find the extra money.
“I’m praying the rates have peaked now and will start to go down because this is really unsustainable for me. I feel completely helpless,” she said.
Most people remortgaging will still pay significantly more than their previous deal, as interest rates are far higher than people became accustomed to for more than a decade.
The Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, has played down any chances that the Bank rate might start to be cut soon.
“I can tell you that we have not had any discussion… about reducing rates, because that would be very, very premature. Our job is to get inflation down,” he said.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at estate agency Savills, predicted further falls in UK house prices as a result.
“A material improvement in mortgage affordability requires the prospect of a cut in interest rates coming onto the horizon,” he said. “That still looks some way off, suggesting buyers’ budgets are going to remain constrained and that there is a little way to go before house prices bottom out.”
Ways to save money on your mortgage
- Overpay now if possible: If you still have some time on a low fixed-rate deal, your mortgage could work harder for you now. Putting money in a savings account can build up and also earn interest to help to pay down some of the mortgage ahead of fixing a new deal.
- Switch to interest only: If you have an interest-only mortgage it means you are only paying the interest on the amount borrowed, and you are not paying down the size of the debt. But moving to an interest-only mortgage can keep your monthly payments affordable.
- Downsize: This is possibly not a realistic option for a growing family, or for the owners of a small flat. But for older mortgage customers whose children have flown the nest, selling up and buying a smaller property could reduce the mortgage size.