Copy article

Halifax, BM Solutions Reducing Rates

Journalist: Justin Moy, Contributing Editor

ended 02. April 2024

Halifax and BM Solutions, both within the Lloyds Marketing Group, have released details of small reductions to their fixed-rate mortgage deals. Changes start from today (Halifax) or Wednesday 3rd April (BM Solutions). Newspage asked brokers for their thoughts on these announced cuts, whether this will be a week of improvements, and whether these announced cuts will make much of a difference (or not). Their views are below.

14 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Star Quote
Copy

Editor
Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
After the clocks changing, is now the time for the mortgage industry to start springing forward rather than falling back to old times? A good start to Spring, the new month and a new quarter.
Star Quote
Copy

Editor
Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
Whilst these minor reductions in rates are unlikely to tip the balance of any borrower decisions, all reductions are warmly welcomed at the moment, especially from the UK's biggest lender, as this could influence further reductions from others.
Star Quote
Copy

Editor
Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
This announcement will cost more to communicate than the actual savings made. This is a minimal reduction, not enough to make anyone change their mind and make that decision to buy a home, especially if they were put off by high rates before. With the outlook for mortgage rates improving, lenders should embrace that opportunity as they did in January and stimulate the market, not make it feel as useless as a Chocolate Egg in a supermarket after Easter.
Star Quote
Copy

Editor
Bob Singh
Founder at Chess Mortgages
A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down couldn’t be more true with Halifax and BM both first out of the blocks this week to announce cuts, albeit marginal. This paves the way for others to follow suit as we enter spring with a bounce. Some mildly encouraging data has also helped market sentiment.
Star Quote
Copy

Editor
Andrew Montlake
Managing Director at Coreco
Whilst this move is not a giant leap, it's one small step in the right direction. We can only hope this is the start of a series of steps that turn into a jog. Sentiment is everything in this market and a healthy dose of Spring positivity is exactly what the mortgage industry has ordered.
Star Quote
Copy

Editor
Ranald Mitchell
Director at bad credit mortgage specialists Charwin Mortgages
OK, so 0.09% shaved off selected 2- and 5-year fixed rates isn't a game changer, saving around £13 a month on borrowing of £250,000 over 25 years. What it does signal, however, is intent. Making these moves, albeit small ones, shows that Halifax are keen to reprice at every opportunity, keeping them at the sharp end of the market.
Star Quote
Copy

Editor
Rohit Kohli
Director at The Mortgage Stop
A positive start on the return from the Easter break and hopefully the start of more lenders following suit. However, this does seem to be a new pattern with lenders just dipping their toes in more frequently with minor tweaks to reduce rates and more hesitance to return to a full-on rate war until we see more positive signals from Threadneedle Street towards a rate cut.
Star Quote
Copy

Platinum
Elliott Culley
Director at Switch Mortgage Finance
Halifax have grabbed the intiative after the long Easter weekend by making some small reductions to their mortgage product range. This is a small step in the right direction for borrowers and may push other lenders to follow suit.
Star Quote
Copy

Graham Cox
Director at Bridging Hub
The Halifax reducing rates after a couple of months of increases is further signs of the improving outlook for mortgages. They're playing catchup somewhat, as some of the other major lenders reduced theirs before Easter. If this continues, we should see transaction levels improve as we head into the peak house-buying period.
Star Quote
Copy

Ben Tadd
Director at Lucra Mortgages
A step in the right direction for mortgage borrowers this morning, with arguably the biggest mortgage lender in the market reducing their rates. Although relatively small rate reductions have been announced for tomorrow from Halifax in the residential market and BM Solutions in the buy to let lending space, this could well trigger a response from some of the other big banks on the market in the coming week, with more lenders likely to follow suit.
Copy

Editor
Dariusz Karpowicz
Director at Albion Financial Advice
Well, Halifax and BM Solutions trimming their fixed-rate deals is akin to a slight breeze rather than a gusty wind change. We've seen this dance before, with little shuffles here and there over the past few months – it's become part of the scenery. Frankly, these cuts aren't likely to set the world on fire or give the market a significant jolt. What we're really on the lookout for is a proper spark – something like a hearty boost from the economy or a bold new government scheme that genuinely opens doors for buyers. That's the kind of move that could genuinely stir things up.
Copy

Akhil Mair
Director at Our Mortgage Broker
It's great to see Halifax and Birmingham Midshires taking proactive steps to support the mortgage market community and borrowers by reducing rates across various product ranges. This move not only demonstrates good intent from one of the largest mortgage providers but also injects a dose of optimism into the market after the easter break.
Copy

Gary Bush
Financial Adviser at MortgageShop.com
Lloyds Banking Group - Halifax and Birmingham Midshires reducing their rates on April 1st, a Bank Holiday break, did seem like an April Fools - especially when you look at the meagre size of the reductions. However, on the positive side any reduction in rates by the largest lender in the UK is a positive step that hopefully will fire up the competitor lenders with something more sizeable. We wait and see.
Copy

Amit Patel
Adviser at Trinity Finance
A small step in the right direction albeit a marginal cut in the rates by the UKs biggest lender.Hopefully other lenders will follow and we see a period of competitive rates across being offered across all product ranges.