Lenders upping their rates

On Tuesday, a number of lenders announced their rates are increasing, with the highest, at the time of writing, a chunky 0.80% by Santander for a 90% LTV remortgage product. That's a material increase and shows that the days of ultra-low rates are now over. I would recommend fixing your rate as soon as possible, as this is a sign that banks are expecting a potentially significant rate increase on Thursday. I wouldn't be surprised to see more lenders act before then. The mortgage market is about as fast-moving as it could be right now and anyone seeking to lock into a fixed rate needs to act right now. The clock is ticking in the run-up to what could be a very big and expensive Thursday.

We're seeing some big jumps from between 0.5% to 0.75% today, which tell us what most lenders are expecting the base rate to increase by after Thursday's vote. The sad thing is that many lenders have already increased their rates on offer a number of times since the last vote, with the rates on offer to customers increasing far quicker than the base rate is. If you're needing to secure a new deal on your mortgage in the next six months, time really isn't on your side and you need to be acting quick. Speak to a broker who can move at a quick pace as you can't afford to wait a few weeks for an appointment with a bank or broker as by then you can be sure that rates will have increased even further.

Lender rate hikes are pouring in thick and fast ahead of the delayed Monetary Policy Commitee meeting this week. Just like the MPC, many may have delayed taking action until after the period of national mourning, and are now catching up. Any borrowers who are considering a mortgage application, for purchase or remortgage, should quite simply get on with it.

Worryingly, these hikes could simply be related to lenders' business volumes and we could potentially see them hike rates even further still on Thursday and Friday. However, the way lenders have been behaving lately I would not be in the slightest bit surprised if they did a double hike on their rates this week.

Lenders are regularly upping their rates at the moment but when you see them all doing it on the same day you know something must be up. I think lenders are just so used to the base rate rises being announced in the past few months that they just know it will happen again and rather than have a mad rush on Thursday to up their rates they are pre-emptively doing it now. Borrowers are very aware of the rapid rate rises and product withdrawals, and those whose fixed rates are coming to an end or want to refinance within the next six months need to do it now rather than later (providing you don’t have early repayment charges) because rates are only going to keep going up.

My email inbox is getting an absolite pounding today from lenders. What we do not need is these lenders jumping the gun, then doubling up and adding another rise straight afterwards. It's time to strap in and get ready for a very bumpy ride. On a positive note, at least we know what is going to happen and can prepare accordingly. Let's hope the lenders can, too.

A plethora of high street lenders have once again upped their mortgage rates in the past 24 hours, in anticipation of yet another impending and potentially significant base rate rise to come later this week. In what now appears to be the new normal, mortgage lenders are increasingly and swiftly upping their rates a few days before any base rate rises are officially announced by the Bank of England. If the past nine months are anything to go by, lenders have always got their forecasts right, so if you want to avoid any further significant hikes in your mortgage interest rate, my advice would be to lock into a new fix ASAP whilst some of the lower rate deals are still around.

We’re now seeing some significant rises in rates with many high street lenders hitting 4%+ and those that aren’t, soon will be. These are the same lenders that were at sub-1% not all that long ago. The mortgage market today is an entirely different beast to what it was a year ago.