Colin Bell, chief operating officer of Purely Mortgages says: “There is now a mass increase in fixed rates going on among the main lenders – consumers are now definitely losing out by waiting for better fixed rates.
"This past week has seen a mass increase in fixed rates and there’s more to come. Money market rates have increased again and there is strong noise about the next base rate move being upwards.
"Abbey, Accord, Bristol & West, Standard Life and GMAC have already increased their rates. This week we see Halifax pulling their current fixed rates whilst Intelligent Finance and Alliance & Leicester are increasing their extremely popular remortgage and purchase rates. This leaves Intelligent Finance as temporary market leaders – customers should take heed and act now.
"Other news; Alliance & Leicester have moved to monthly interest on most of their products – this is great news as it puts their two year fixed at a cheaper monthly cost than the lower Portman rate which is 0.05% lower but charged on an annual interest basis (a reminder that it is not just the rate you need to look at).
"Abbey, in a cost-cutting phase under their new owners, have fallen into processing disarray. Delays are rife and they are getting worse by the day – this is a great shame as they promised much with their new systems and processing and the market does not want a lender as large as them in this situation."
Current ‘Best Buys’
Fixed
Lender: Portman Building Society
Rate:2.35% Fixed (to 95% LTV)
Term: Until 28/02/07
Initial Rate: 2.35%
APR: 6.2%
Reverts To: 6.74%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Beyond term
Lender: Alliance & Leicester
Rate:4.44% Fixed (to 95% LTV)
Term: Until 31/5/07 (Then 1% over bank base rate for 1 year)
Initial Rate: 4.44%
APR: 6.0%
Reverts To: 6.84%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Beyond term (1 year overhang)
Lender: Alliance & Leicester
Rate:4.69% (to 95% LTV)
Term: Until 31/5/07
Initial Rate: 4.69%
APR: 5.6%
Reverts To: 6.84%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Beyond term (1 year overhang)
Lender: National Counties
Rate:4.79% Fixed (to 80% LTV)
Term: Until 01/04/08
Initial Rate: 4.79%
APR: 6.5%
Reverts To: 6.74%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Within term
Lender: Alliance & Leicester
Rate:4.89% Fixed (to 95% LTV)
Term: Until 31/05/10
Initial Rate: 4.89%
APR: 5.6%
Reverts To: 6.84%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Within term
Lender: Clydesdale (Semi Exclusive)
Rate:4.90% Fixed (to 85% LTV)
Term: 2 Years
Initial Rate: 4.90%
APR: 6.8%
Reverts To: 6.84%
Incentives: Free Valuation & Legal Fees
Early Repayment Charges: Within term
Discount/Tracker
Lender: Abbey
Rate:0.31% under Bank Base (to 60% LTV)
Term: 2 Years
Initial Rate: 4.44%
APR: 6.7%
Reverts To: 6.75%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Within term
Lender: Portman Building Society
Rate:2.26% discount from SVR (to 95% LTV)
Term: Until 31/03/07
Initial Rate: 4.48%
APR: 6.6%
Reverts To: 6.74%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Within term
Lender: Nottingham Building Society
Rate:1.99% Discount from SVR (to 90% LTV)
Term: 3 Years
Initial Rate: 4.65%
APR: 6.4%
Reverts To: 6.64%
Incentives:
Early Repayment Charges: Within term
Lender: Alliance & Leicester
Rate:0.01% under Bank Base (to 95% LTV)
Term: 2 Years
Initial Rate: 4.74%
APR: 5.8%
Reverts To: 6.84%
Incentives: Free legals and refund of valuation fee for remortgages
Early Repayment Charges: Within term
Lender: Intelligent Finance
Rate:Bank Base (to 80% LTV)
Term: Until 31/3/07
Initial Rate: 4.75%
APR: 6.0%
Reverts To: 5.95%
Incentives: Free legals and refund of valuation fee for remortgages
Early Repayment Charges:
Within term
