Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Solutions. Read the original article for full details.
Barclays raises residential remortgage rates by up to 25bps; Halifax announces hikes up to 11bps
Barclays has announced increases of up to 25 basis points in its residential remortgage range, while Halifax is raising rates by up to 0.11 percentage points on selected fixed rate products. Both lenders are also withdrawing a number of products as part of the changes.
What Barclays is changing
Barclays said it will increase rates on selected reward products, while also withdrawing a number of products across its residential purchase, remortgage and reward ranges.
Within its remortgage range, the 4.66% Premier two-year fix with a £999 product fee has increased to 4.91%. The lender's 4.75% two-year fix with a £999 product fee at 75% loan to value (LTV) will increase to 5%.
Aaron Strutt, product and communications director at Trinity Financial, said the Barclays remortgage rates had been pretty cheap, so it wasn't a surprise they went up.
Halifax's rate changes
Halifax will increase rates by up to 0.11 percentage points on selected two-, three-, five- and 10-year fixed rate products for homemovers and first-time buyers.
The lender is also raising rates by up to 0.1 percentage points on selected two-, three- and five-year remortgage products. Product transfer and further advance rates will increase by up to 0.1 percentage points for selected two- and five-year fixes.
As part of the changes, Halifax will withdraw all 18-month fixed rate remortgage products. Strutt added that the lender's 18-month fixed rate products had been popular with borrowers seeking a shorter fixed-term option.
What this means for agents and clerks
Landlords remortgaging via product transfers or further advances face higher rates on selected Halifax products, which may affect buy-to-let portfolio decisions and, in turn, tenancy turnover. Agents advising landlord clients should also note that shorter fixed-term options, such as Halifax's 18-month fixes, are being withdrawn.
Source: Mortgage Solutions