Barclays increases mortgage rates after inflation blow this week
Barclays announced that there will be sweeping product changes, which included some cuts
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Barclays has become the first lender to hike mortgage rates after inflation slowed less than expected last month.
From today, the lender is set to increase the rates on its two and five-year mortgage rates.
They announced that there will be sweeping product changes, which included some cuts.
It’s the second time in three weeks that Barclays has announced price increases and reductions at the same time.
Under the change, the lender will start charging 4.98 per cent on a 75 per cent long-to-value two-year fixed mortgage, while five-year deals now include rates of up to 4.8 per cent.
The announcements follow Wednesday’s CPI figures which showed inflation eased to an annual rate of 3.2 per cent in the year to March, down from 3.4 per cent in February, the Office for National Statistics said.
Barclays has become the first lender to hike mortgage rates after inflation slowed less than expected
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The figure was slightly higher than the 3.1 per cent forecast by city economists and the Bank of England’s two per cent target.
Aaron Strutt, head of PR and communications at Mayfair-based mortgage broker Trinity Financial, noted that the changes came after Barclays had mostly been better-priced than rivals.
According to Moneyfacts, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate today is 5.81 per cent while the average five-year fixed residential mortgage rate today is 5.39 per cent. Both are unchanged from yesterday.
With the average rate around five percent, mortgage repayments will still be much higher for the 1.6 million mortgage holders due to come off cheap fixed rate deals over the next 12 months.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfactscompare, said moving to a fixed rate deal could still be “cost-of-effective” for mortgage holders, despite rising fixed rates.
She explained: “Despite rising fixed rates, the incentive to refinance with a fixed rate mortgage is a sensible option when the average Standard Variable Rate (SVR) is over eight per cent.
“However, borrowers who will come off a two- or five-year fixed rate this year may be paying between 2.50 per cent and up to three per cent more in interest on their mortgage on average.
“Indeed, in April 2022, the average two-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.86 per cent, and in April 2019 the average five-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.88 per cent.
“Seeking advice is a wise choice to help navigate all the deals available and to work out which one would be the most cost-effective option.”
The next base rate announcement from the Bank of England’s MPC will take place on May 9, 2024.
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Last year, the Bank warned that more than two million households will pay between £200 and £499 more a month on new deals from the end of 2023 and the end of 2026.
A further one million mortgage holders will see their monthly payments rise by at least £500 over the next two years.
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