Mortgage News

With mortgage rates continuing to rise across the industry, RBS today announces that from Wednesday, 30th April, it is to cut rates by up to 0.30% - with the prices of all new fixed and tracker mortgages lowered by at least 0.10%. These deals are available through RBS and NatWest branches.

Commenting on Abbey and Nationwide's latest borrowing restrictions, Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, said:

Bradford & Bingley has announced it has appointed Just Retirement Solutions to offer its customers advice on equity release products.

Sean Gardner of MoneyExpert.com said: "The biggest struggle now is not being able to afford a mortgage - it's being able to get one. Availability is the biggest hurdle despite all the Government efforts to get lenders lending.

The results of a fairinvestment.co.uk poll show that the launch of the new HSBC Rate Match mortgage has been generally well received by UK consumers.

Nationwide Building Society will, from Thursday 1 May, launch a new offer to help first time buyers who deal with Nationwide directly.

Hard-pressed homeowners are being urged to check the terms of their mortgage as they could be eligible for a break from their monthly payments, according to MoneyExpert.com.

Skipton Building Society has announced that, in response to the cut in Bank of England Base Rate, it will reduce its SVR to 6.45% from 6.70%.

Despite the Bank of England's £50bn swap of gilts for cash for mortgage backed securities, lenders' cost of borrowing is yet to show a significant improvement, dropping a negligible 0.04%. The spread between LIBOR and Bank rate remains a significant 0.88%.

Denise Harvey, mortgage analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, comments "Two weeks on from the base rate cut 38 lenders (38%) have announced that they will cut their SVR.

HSBC Bank plc announces it will reduce its HSBC variable mortgage rate by 0.25% from the 9th May 2008.

Commenting on the BBA mortgage approval figures, Simon Rubinsohn RICS chief economist said: "The tightening in the credit crunch is continuing to take its toll on the residential property market with BBA data showing mortgage approvals at their lowest level since September 2000.

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has published a white paper on credit crunch solutions for the mortgage industry.

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has today (21 April) cautiously welcomed the move by the Bank of England to offer up £50bn of Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) for government bonds.

The CML welcomes the announcement of a special liquidity scheme by the Bank of England, initially likely to be around £50 billion, and hopes it will have the desired effects of improving the liquidity position of the banking system and restoring confidence in financial markets.