Halifax and Santander cut mortgage rates as battle ramps up between biggest lenders

Two more big banks have announced mortgage rate cuts in the latest downward shift for home loan pricing.

Today, Halifax has slashed rates across a number of mortgage deals by 0.19 percentage points.

And from tomorrow, Santander will follow suit, with a spate of rate cuts across its fixed rate deals by up to 0.16 percentage points, aimed at home buyers.

The latest repricing follows on from NatWest, which reduced rates across a number of its fixed rate products yesterday. Its second round of rate cuts in little more than a week.

Last week, similar moves were made by Barclays and HSBC, which both announced mortgage rate cuts.

Halifax is now offering the lowest two-year fix on the market to those buying with at least a 40 per cent deposit.

Its 4.63 per cent two-year fix comes with a £1,099 fee. On a £200,000 mortgage being repaid over 20 years that would cost someone £1,279 a month.

The average two-year fix is currently 5.94 per cent, according to Moneyfacts. Someone with the same situation would pay £1,426 a month on the average deal.

Halifax is also sitting very competitively for five year fixes for those buying or remortgaging with the largest deposits or equity.

Its lowest remortgage deal is 4.4 per cent with a £999 fee while its best rate for home buyers fixing for five years is 4.26 per cent – both of these are second lowest on the market. 

Nicholas Mendes, technical manager at broker John Charcol said: ‘Halifax has made further rate reductions to their product range, targeting home movers and first-time buyers in response to market competition. 

‘Recently, many lenders have been repricing their offers in the run-up to the election, aiming to capitalize on the brief respite as buyer activity picks up again. 

‘With little expectation of significant incentives from the prospective Labour government, buyers have reengaged with the market after a short pause.’

While borrowers will have to wait and see what Santnader has to offer tomorrow, albeit there is nothing for those remortgaging.

Brokers are hopeful that it will help ramp up competition between lenders over the coming sending rates lower.

Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages told news agency, Newspage: ‘This move from Santander has the potential to ramp up the rate battle between the UK’s biggest lenders. 

‘More cuts are now likely ahead of the expected base rate reduction in August. Things are really hotting up now in the mortgage market.’

Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages added: ‘This is another small but important rate cut from Santander, keeping them within range of Barclays and NatWest who have already improved rates this week. 

‘While buyers won’t see a huge improvement in their monthly payments, all these little wins are adding up over time. The mortgage rate cut momentum is growing.’