Base rate – two weeks on

Michelle Slade, analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk comments on the changes in the mortgage and savings market since the 0.25% base rate cut on 7 February.

Mortgages

57 lenders have announced changes to their SVR
8 of these have dropped their SVR by less than 0.25%, most noticeably Northern Rock (0.1%) and Britannia BS (0.15%)
1 lender, Stafford Railway BS, has dropped their SVR by 0.35%, making it the lowest SVR in the market at 5.99%
All the biggest lenders have now announced their intentions, with revised SVR rates due to come into force early next month

“It comes as no great shock to see Northern Rock not passing on the full cut. Their SVR rate (7.59%) is one of the highest in the market. New lending does not appear to be a major part of their strategy moving forward.

“Many of the big lenders were uncharacteristically quick off the mark to announce their intentions. However, on closer inspection, none of the top five biggest lenders has any current mortgage products linked to SVR.

“Of those lenders with the largest number of SVR linked products, Leeds BS and Monmouthshire BS have announced they will be passing on the full 0.25%. Barnsley BS, Dudley BS and Vernon BS are yet to announce their intentions.

Savings

48 institutions have announced their intentions to pass on the cuts to savings rates
2 lenders have announced cuts of less than 0.25%, Holmesdale BS (0.2%) and Northern Rock (0.10%)
9 lenders have announced cuts of more than 0.25%, most noticeably Egg and LV= which have decreased rate by 0.50%.

“It’s very telling to see Northern Rock only cutting rates by 0.10% and then only on their fixed rate ISAs. Only time will tell if they will cut rates on their other products, some of which current fair very well in our best buy tables.

“In recent months there has been an obvious shift in Northern Rock’s focus. Previously the bank was a big player in the lending best buys for mortgages and loans: now the focus is on their savings book and attracting more money through competitively priced retail deposits.

“Of the bigger banks only Halifax has made any changes to its product range and then only on their tracker products. This is normal as the majority of institutions tend to cut rates from the beginning next month following a base rate cut.”