UK mortgage lenders to ramp up competition for business

UK homeowners and buyers can expect a rash of mortgage deals with eye-catching rates as home loan providers compete to entice borrowers and hit their lending targets. Mortgage costs have been reducing since late July, with the average new five-year fixed mortgage rate down to 5.87% from 6.37% at the start of August. Nicholas Mendes of the broker John Charcol, suspects lenders will have to do more to galvanise the market, with one option being to use a higher fee to push down the headline rate of a new mortgage deal. Chris Sykes, technical director at the broker Private Finance, believes there is “not going to be much major movement on mortgage rates until the base rate starts coming down, or inflation is low enough to predict that the base rate will soon come down”. 

The Guardian (04/11/2023)