HSBC increases mortgage interest rates

HSBC has increased the mortgage interest rate it charges on many of its fixed, variable, and buy-to-let mortgages by 0.25 per cent.

The move follows the Bank of England's decision to increase the underlying rate of borrowing in the UK by 0.25 per cent this month.

In the wake of this HSBC has upped its standard variable rate (SVR) from 5.75 per cent to six per cent from October 1st 2006.

HSBC's Homebuyer mortgage rate is increasing by 0.25 per cent to 5.75 per cent, effective from September 4th 2006.

And HSBC's buy-to-let variable rate mortgage is increasing 0.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent, effective from August 21st 2006.

The bank is also launching a two-year fixed-rate mortgage at 4.95 per cent, discount mortgages from 4.79 per cent and lifetime tracker mortgages from 5.34 per cent. These are available up to 90 per cent of the property value (LTV) with a booking fee of £599.