Price war heats up as Barclays slashes rates

Last week saw HSBC make a series of reductions with rates now starting at a headline grabbing 0.99%, with a £1,999 product fee.

And Barclays has become the latest to revamp its range with selected fixed rate products starting from 1.85% for a 2-year fix (£1,999 product fee up to 65% LTV) and 1.88% for a 2-year open market fix (1.88% product fee up to 60% LTV).

The cuts follow a sharp fall in swap rates over the last week as the deteriorating economic situation in Europe saw investors pile into government bonds.

Speaking of the cuts at Barclay’s Andy Gray, the lenders managing director for mortgages, said: “Last week saw a number of factors come into play that helped to reduce the cost of funding for mortgage lenders.

“Acting swiftly in response to the current economic conditions with a seventh straight rate reduction allows an opportunity to offer some of our lowest ever mortgage rates, continuing our commitment to give homebuyers and remortgagers access to ‘never seen before’ mortgage deals offered by Barclays.

Other cuts by Barclay’s now sees the lender offer a 10-year fix at 3.49% with a £999 fee, a 5-year fixed at 2.85% and a 3-year fix at 2.29%.