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"Borrowers face a confusing and unpredictable market" with mixed bag of rate changes

Journalist: Justin Moy, Contributing Editor

ended 20. February 2025

Mortgage lenders seem undecided about the imminent future of mortgage rates, as Barclays have announced rate cuts, Co-op have increased rates, and Mpowered has referenced the Swap rate increases for their hikes. Newspage asked brokers for their views and advice to borrowers at an uncertain time for rates.

mPowered Mortgages

Co-Op Mortgages

7 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Pete Mugleston
Mortgage Advisor & Managing Director at onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk
With lenders taking different approaches to rates, borrowers face a confusing and unpredictable market. Some are cutting rates to attract business, while others are reacting cautiously to economic shifts. The Bank of England will likely reduce rates to around 3% at some point this year, but with inflation rising, a cut at the next meeting is unlikely. This is where a broker’s expertise becomes invaluable. They have access to a wide range of lenders and can help borrowers navigate these fluctuations, securing the best deal based on their circumstances. Acting quickly is key, but so is ensuring the right mortgage choice.
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Emma Jones
Managing Director at Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk
Some lenders are hiking rates, others are cutting them. This shows the uncertainty in the market following this week's higher than expected inflation data. More cuts from the Bank of England are almost certain but when they come given that inflation is at 3% is hard to know. The Bank of England has a delicate balancing act as the economy is stagnating and needs stimulus but inflation is rising.
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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
This mixed bag of mortgage news emphasises why borrowers should find a mortgage broker even when they are looking to swap deals with their own lender. Timing can be critical for borrowers, and taking advantage of rate cuts when they come can save thousands of pounds. Barclays would have priced this range of deals a few days back, whereas MPowered Mortgages is more sensitive to Swap rate pricing, so if MPowered has moved, larger lenders will probably mirror this in a week. Be mortgage-ready when you need to organise a new deal.
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Ben Perks
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
A veritable pic’n’mix of mortgage products released today. Swap rates took a slight uptick yesterday which will have had an immediate impact on pricing. This is an another minor bump on the road to lower rates. Stability is strongly sought-after and the Bank of England have the ability to provide this with a base rate cut next month. Hopefully they let logic prevail and aren’t deterred by yesterday's inflation figures.
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Jack Tutton
Director at SJ Mortgages
Lenders are having a hard time judging the mortgage market at the moment, which is reflected in these mixed changes. From our conversations with borrowers, it appears that they also are struggling with the rollercoaster that the market currently finds itself on. Just in the past fortnight alone, we've had optimism with the base rate cut, which was then shortly removed by the jump in inflation this week. Mortgage holders will be hoping that we have some stability in the market over the coming months.
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Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
Those lenders with market-leading rates are putting them up, whilst some at the back of the pack are reducing to increase business levels. No lender at the moment is reducing rates based on their confidence in the economy or likelihood of imminent base rate reductions from the Bank of England.
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Elliott Culley
Director at Switch Mortgage Finance
Swap rates have risen in the wake of the higher inflation figure. Mortgage products from lenders are based on margins and some lenders will squeeze these more than others to meet goals for the business. As a result, when there are slight increases it can mean they need to amend their products quite quickly. Lenders increasing and other decreasing their products today perfectly encapuslates this common occurence.