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Interest Rates Stay the Same But Mortgage Rates Go Up
Despite the Bank of England keeping base rates at 0.5%, this week saw the announcement of an increase in mortgage rates for some customers.
The Skipton Building Society announced that from March its standard variable rate will increase from 3.5% to 4.95%. This will add approximately £80 per month for every £100,000 borrowed.
Commenting on the rise, Tony Rice of Bedfordshire-based specialist mortgage and insurance brokers TMP Mortgage Zone, said: "The announcement from Skipton follows on from that of Accord who late last year increased its standard variable rate from 5.34% to 5.99% despite base interest rates remaining at their all time low of 0.5%. It's difficult to know if this is the start of a trend amongst all lenders, but any borrower who is on a standard variable rate from their lender needs to keep an eye on their own lender's position."
The increases in standard variable rates come at a time when some fixed rate mortgage deals have been falling. The average fixed two-year rate deal for someone with a 25% deposit fell in December 2009 to 4.06% - the lowest this figure has been since May 2009.
[ 28-01-2010 ]
