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Tag: Halifax Intermediaries

  • Major UK Lenders Announce Mortgage Rate Reductions: What It Means for Home Buyers

    Major Lenders to Reduce Mortgage Rates

    As of 17 April 2026, major lenders including Halifax Intermediaries and TSB have announced plans to reduce their mortgage rates. Halifax Intermediaries is set to decrease rates by up to 0.35 percentage points on fixed-rate products, while TSB plans to reduce rates on two-year fixed house purchase mortgages by up to 0.45 percentage points. This comes in response to falling swap rates, which significantly influence mortgage prices. Amanda Bryden, head of Halifax Intermediaries and Scottish Widows Bank, stated that while swap rates continue to be volatile, the current decline offers an opportunity to pass savings onto home buyers.

    Real-World Impact for First-Time Buyers

    Let’s consider a first-time buyer taking out a £250,000 repayment mortgage at 75% LTV. If they were to secure a mortgage with TSB, which is reducing its two-year fixed house purchase mortgage rates by up to 0.45 percentage points, the savings can be significant. Assuming the rate was previously 5.88% (the average two-year fixed homeowner mortgage rate on the market as of Thursday 16 April), a reduction of 0.45 percentage points would bring the rate down to 5.43%. This rate cut reduces monthly payments from £1,506 to £1,454 — a saving of £52 per month or £624 per year.

    Market Context and Outlook

    These rate reductions come at a time when the average two-year fixed homeowner mortgage rate is 5.88%, down from 5.89% on Wednesday. The average five-year fixed homeowner mortgage rate remains unchanged at 5.77%. At the start of March, these averages were 4.83% and 4.95% respectively. Therefore, while rates have increased overall in recent months, the recent reductions announced by major lenders such as Halifax Intermediaries and TSB are a welcome reprieve for home buyers. Furthermore, with the UK base rate currently at 3.75% and money markets pricing for fewer base rate hikes, this could signal a trend towards lower mortgage rates in the near future. Adam French, head of consumer finance at Moneyfacts, noted that rising mortgage rates seem to have plateaued for now, with several lenders including Santander, Atom Bank, and Skipton Building Society making meaningful cuts in recent days. Nicholas Mendes, mortgage technical manager at John Charcol, also suggested that HSBC’s plans to cut mortgage rates could influence other major lenders to follow suit.

    Product Availability

    As of 16 April, Moneyfacts reported 6,665 homeowner mortgage products available on the market, an increase of 809 deals since a low of 5,856 products on 24 March. However, this is still 973 (12.7%) fewer than before the conflict in Iran began. Despite this, the recent rate reductions and increasing product numbers suggest a gradual recovery and improvement in the mortgage market, which will ultimately benefit home buyers and homeowners looking to remortgage.

  • HSBC UK and Halifax Intermediaries to Cut Mortgage Rates: What it Means for Homeowners

    HSBC UK and Halifax Intermediaries Announce Mortgage Rate Cuts

    As of 17 April 2026, HSBC UK and Halifax Intermediaries have announced plans to reduce their mortgage rates. This encouraging move comes as a result of falling swap rates, which play a significant role in the pricing of mortgages. Halifax Intermediaries plans to decrease rates by up to 0.35 percentage points on fixed-rate products. TSB also announced a decrease in rates on two-year fixed house purchase mortgages by up to 0.45 percentage points. As of Thursday, the average two-year fixed homeowner mortgage rate was 5.88%, down from 5.89% on Wednesday. The average five-year fixed homeowner mortgage rate remained unchanged at 5.77%.

    Real-World Impact for First-Time Buyers

    To understand the impact of these rate reductions, let’s consider the case of a first-time buyer. For instance, a first-time buyer with a £250,000 repayment mortgage at 75% LTV (Loan to Value) could see their monthly payments decrease. If the mortgage rate drops from 5.88% to 5.43% (a decrease of 0.45 percentage points as announced by TSB), their monthly payments would reduce from £1,499 to £1,441. This results in a saving of £58 per month or £696 per year.

    Implications for the Remortgage Market

    Remortgagers could also benefit from these rate cuts. For instance, a homeowner with a £200,000 repayment mortgage at 60% LTV looking to remortgage could see their monthly payments drop. If the mortgage rate decreases from 5.77% to 5.42% (a decrease of 0.35 percentage points as indicated by Halifax Intermediaries), their monthly payments would reduce from £1,186 to £1,151. This equates to a saving of £35 per month or £420 per year.

    Market Context and Future Outlook

    In March, the average two-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.83% and the average five-year fixed-rate deal was 4.95%. The current base rate is 3.75%. The number of homeowner mortgage products available on Thursday was 6,665, an increase of 809 from the low of 5,856 available products on 24 March. This is, however, still 973 (12.7%) fewer than before the conflict in Iran began. Money markets are now pricing for fewer base rate hikes than they were a few weeks ago and swap rates have fallen back towards 4% from highs of around 4.4%. This has allowed several lenders, such as Santander, Atom Bank and Skipton Building Society, to make meaningful cuts over the last few days. With HSBC’s plans to cut mortgage rates, it adds to the sense that this could help kick-start further reductions from other big names over the coming days.