HSBC, Barclays & Lloyds TSB cut SVR, RBS does not, Halifax cuts just 0.25%

Halifax is just cutting its standard variable rate (SVR) by 0.25 per cent, while Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is not immediately cutting its mortgage rates, despite the Bank of England cutting the base rate by one per cent.

The move from the RBS – which includes NatWest – will be seen as a blow to borrowers after it was bailed out by the government with the taxpayer taking a 57.9 per cent stake in the firm for £20 billion.

The Halifax SVR is also only seeing a small drop - despite the UK government also investing in the firm.

An RBS spokesperson said its standard variable rates (SVR) were under review, but refused to state when a decision will be made.

"On the back of today's base rate announcement RBS will ensure that it strikes an appropriate balance between the interests of savers and borrowers in any decision it makes," he added.

"The bank will remain competitive in the markets in which it operates."

Halifax - the UK's largest mortgage lender - stated the key reason for the small drop in its SVR, affecting 15 per cent of its borrowers, was due the need to remain competitive in the savings market.

Peter Vicary-Smith , Which? chief executive, said: "The banks are skating on thin ice as it is.

"They have been bailed out by taxpayers' money yet some stubbornly refuse to act in the public interest. If they fail to pass the latest cut onto their customers then the government must take decisive action."

Lloyds TSB said before the announcement today its SVR mortgages and tracker mortgages – under the Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) brand - would follow the Bank of England.

Stephen Noakes, C&G marketing director, said: "In the last two months alone we've passed on the full 2.5 per cent fall to our existing tracker and variable customers, so many homeowners will start the new year with some much needed extra cash available."

The Lloyds TSB move has been followed up by a number of other lenders.

HSBC will lower its variable rate mortgage rate by one per cent to 4.44 per cent.

The bank's tracker mortgages will also move in line with the full base rate cut.

Barclays - under its Woolwich brand - will cut its SVR by by 1.15 percentage points to 5.49 per cent - but only three per cent of its customers are on its SVR.

Generally at the end of a fixed-rate deal, Barclays customers switch to a tracker mortgage. The Barclays Bank base rate will drop by one percentage point and sit at two per cent in line with the Bank of England rate.

Abbey will drop all its variable rate mortgages that track base rate by the full one per cent, including all flexible deals, from the start of January.

The bank said its SVR – currently at 5.44 per cent - is under review.

Alliance & Leicester has announced it is withdrawing its tracker mortgage range from today as a response to the cut.