Santander Mixed Bag of Rate Changes
Santander has just announced a variety of increases and rate cuts across their range :
What do you think? A reversal of rate increases last week? Looking for certain business? Comments please
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Coming into play from Tuesday, there is a real mixture of price changes depending on the type of mortgage and the size of deposit. Good news for first-time buyers, not so for those looking to move or remortgage. Lenders are becoming more selective as to which client types can have access to their cheapest products, so using a broker will let you find that bargain deal from the wider market. Swap rates are improving, and it's another lender passing on some of those savings.
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Santander's larger reductions for First Time Buyers align with their increasingly aggressive strategy in this space, as we've seen with their recent move into 98% Loan to Value mortgages. They're clearly looking to make a big mark this year and potentially undercut some of the other big lenders.
The modest increases elsewhere in their portfolio are more an indication of where Santander wants to focus their firepower this year, rather than any signal on the direction of rates more generally.
The modest increases elsewhere in their portfolio are more an indication of where Santander wants to focus their firepower this year, rather than any signal on the direction of rates more generally.
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It's great to see Santander slashing rates for first-time buyers by up to 0.32%. These are the people who need it the most and these reductions will really help boost affordability. The rate increases are negligible and a reflection of a lender simply prioritising certain products over others.
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Santander's cuts for first-time buyers will be a shot across the bows for other lenders. They’re very clearly seeking to hoover up a lot of first-time buyer business and lenders who also want it will need to respond. Let''s hope inflation edges down this Wednesday. If so, more rate cuts should be coming in February.
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Santander’s mixed repricing doesn’t look like a market reversal, it looks targeted. The reductions are concentrated in higher LTV and new build segments, which suggests they’re actively chasing volume in growth areas rather than reacting to a sudden funding shift. At the same time, selective increases elsewhere show they’re protecting margin where demand is already strong. That’s not inconsistency, it's portfolio management. We’re seeing lenders fine-tune pricing by segment rather than moving the whole book in one direction. It points to a competitive market where appetite is being steered, not a broad signal that rates are about to fall again. Advisers should read this as lenders positioning for the business they want, not a change in the overall rate environment. The key takeaway is that pricing is now a precision tool. Lenders are engineering flow by product type, not chasing headlines. That level of granularity only happens in a market that’s stable enough to compete strategically.