Halifax, Nationwide, Lloyds TSB, Barclays, Skipton cut SVR by 0.5%, HSBC and Abbey wait

Thursday, 05 February 2009 01:43

Lenders have now started to move their mortgage rates following the Bank of England's rate cut today.

According the data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, 40 per cent of mortgages are on tracker or discounted variable rates and the eight per cent on standard variable rates (SVRs) - with many expecting a cut.

Halifax has moved to cut its standard variable rate (SVR) by 0.50 per cent to 4.00 per cent.

The Bank of England rate cut of 0.5 per cent to one per cent will be matched on the lender's SVR and all existing tracker deals from March 1st.

The move follows Lloyds TSB - now with Halifax as part of the Lloyds Banking Group - to promise to match any rate cut on its SVRs and trackers before it was announced.

Its SVR will drop to a new rate of 3.0 per cent.

Skipton Building Society is dropping its SVR from 4.50 per cent to 4.00 per cent.

HSBC customers on tracker mortgages will benefit from the full 0.5 per cent cut, as it had no collar in place.

However, HSBC's five per cent of mortgage borrowers on a SVR or a discount rate linked to the SVR will have to wait for the lender to review its rates.

An HSBC spokesperson said: "The review will take between three and five days. We like to watch what the competition do."

Nationwide Building Society has previously stated its older tracker mortgage rates will not fall any further, although its SVR, or base mortgage rate (BMR), will drop as it has pledged it will never be more than two per cent above the Bank of England base rate.

The Nationwide BMR will drop from 3.50% to 3.00% from March 1st 2009.

Borrowers who took out a Nationwide tracker mortgage after December 1st 2008 will also benefit from the full 0.50 per cent cut.

Barclays is also to cut its SVR by half a percentage point to 4.99 per cent - although only under three per cent of its Woolwich mortgage customers are on the SVR.

All Woolwich tracker mortgages - covering the majority of Barclays mortgage customers - will see their rates drop by 0.5 per cent from March 1st.

Abbey has announced all its variable rate mortgages that track base rate will fall by the full 0.5 per cent, including flexible deals.

The Abbey SVR - currently at 4.69 per cent - is under review.

Daniel Barnes

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