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Nationwide ups mortgage rates

Journalist: Daniel O'Boyle, Evening Standard

ended 27. February 2024

Nationwide selected fixed rates by up to 0.15%. Where will rates go next? Will all the top lenders end up increasing rates before the Budget? Was Halifax reducing rates just an outlier? 

On the other hand, Nationwide is also increasing its like-for-like maximum borrowing limits for remortgagers up to 95% LTV.

8 responses from the Newspage community

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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
More doom and gloom for borrowers this afternoon, however, Nationwide does allow borrowers to reserve rates up to 90 days in advance which is welcomed by all. We now all wait for the budget, and whether this will help rates improve, or we will see the 5%+ deals back on the table and the slow down of 2023 again.
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Craig Fish
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
Its disappointing but not surprising that we see yet another lender increasing rates, Although slight criteria tweaks are becoming increasingly popular and another tool with which to target business/ clients. I feel that rates will now stabilise and any changes will be purely service and business level led, which is why Halifax desreased ates last week in order to increase business levels. All eyes are now firmly focussed on the words and actions of Jeremy Hunt at the Spring budget.
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Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
These latest rate increases from Nationwide are more about adjusing their sourcing position than an indication of the market conditions. They are not huge increases, but will move them a place or two down the sourcing and therefore attract less applications, perhaps to balance service levels. Nothing to panic about and we should not see any knee-jerk reactions from the rest of of the market based on these increases.
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Gary Bush
Financial Adviser at MortgageShop.com
Nightmare news that Nationwide Building Society has decided to increase its mortgage rates at a time when we have seen Halifax, the UK's largest mortgage lender, decrease theirs. This situation adds to the confusion amongst existing mortgage account holders and new purchasers on what the direction of travel actually is at the moment. We are now hearing more negative vibes from applicants as they expect the next Bank of England meeting next month to be a further increase when financial advisers and the market is gearing up for a hold at worst for the country's mortgage holders. It's noted that in today's rate announcement, Nationwide has released some positive news for Remortgage clients in that they have increased the borrowing limits, in certain circumstances, to 95% - which will very much help existing homeowners. A crazy market we have before us, so stay tuned for more likely chaos.
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Robert Timm
Managing Director at Sunland Mortgages
Unfortunately Nationwide are just following suit with 99% of all other lenders at this time, continuing to follow the swap rate increases and this will likely continue until the budget at the earliest. We all hope for positive news from the chancellor that might arrest the trend and send rates back on a downward path.
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Akhil Mair
Director at Our Mortgage Broker
It's unsurprising to see another lender adjusting their rates upwards in response to market trends. Hopefully, this upward trend will be short-lived, and we'll witness a shift towards rate decreases as market sentiment stabilises and money markets find their footing. As for the direction of rates, it's difficult to predict definitively. However, it's conceivable that other major lenders may follow suit before the Budget. While Halifax's rate reduction may seem like an outlier, market dynamics can be unpredictable. On a positive note, Nationwide's decision to increase maximum borrowing limits for remortgagers up to 95% LTV offers a beneficial opportunity for those seeking financing options amidst these changes.
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Mark Robinson
Managing Director at Albion Forest Mortgages
The start to the year rate drops may have just been a tease of things to come as rate rises have become the norm again. Hopefully we have just returned to pre-2024 rates and things will begin to fall again going forward following the budget and (hopefully) base rate cuts that are on the horizon.
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Charles Breen
Founder at C B
Banks are currently playing with wafer thin margins and are constantly having to reprice as a result to any shift in the market at the moment, they want market share as they are in a price war, but they also dont want to lose money on products.
Lenders are currently experiencing the price war paradox: Lower prices, higher risks