Barclays has cut its mortgage rates again, as last week’s shock rise in inflation does not appear to have deterred lenders from reducing prices.
The high street bank will cut mortgage rates by as much as 0.6 percentage points from Tuesday (23 January), as the “mortgage price war” shows no sign in slowing down.
A message to brokers said: “We are pleased to confirm we are reducing rates on a selection of products by as much as 0.50% across our residential purchase and remortgage range and 0.60% across our existing customer range, effective from tomorrow, Tuesday 23rd January 2024.”
Aaron Strutt, head of PR and communications at Trinity Financial, noted that the cuts leave Nationwide as even more of an outlier, as the only one of the “big six” lenders to have not repriced recently.
The cuts come despite last week’s surprise increase in inflation to 4%. Many commentators thought that rise would bring the mortgage reductions to a screeching halt, as hopes that the Bank of England would cut its own interest rates early this year appeared to be dashed.
However, since the release of the inflation figures, other lenders including Santander and Coventry Building Society have also cut rates.
They also follow news that the Government is considering plans to allow for a 99% mortgage, in which prospective buyers will only have to put down a deposit of 1%.
Kirsty Wells, director at Blueprint Mortgages & Protection, said of the plan: “It is amazing to have something to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder, especially those that have fallen into the rental trap and are unable to save a deposit.
“However, it makes me nervous that the property market only has to drop very slightly before the borrower is then in negative equity and a mortgage prisoner.”
