Mortgage rates climb despite BoE decision
Published On 14 September 2007
Despite the fact that the Bank of England opted to keep interest rates at 5.75 per cent last week a number of mortgage lenders have increased their rates, a consumer website has warned.Website moneysupermarket.com has revealed that lenders like Abbey and Halifax have both announced that the interest rate on their tracker mortgages will increase for new customers, despite the fact that the Bank decided not to increase official rates.
Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at the website, commented: "The mortgage market seems to have taken a step away from its once controlling hand, the Bank of England, and has the potential to become an untamed beast.
"It appears we are entering a new playing field in the mortgage arena, where rates have a life away from Bank of England decisions. Homeowners may have breathed a sigh of relief after last week's hold on base rates, but it is no longer safe to see this as an indication of stability.
"We are facing a market of increasing turmoil and I suspect that Halifax and Abbey are the first of many big providers to announce increases."
Earlier, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reported that house price growth in the UK turned negative in August for the first time since October 2005.
