After the Bank of England slashed the base rate to 0.1% on 19 March, many hoped that consumers would benefit from the cut, but that hasn’t necessarily been the case. Here’s an update on the latest financial news affecting medical and dental professionals.
This article does not constitute advice. Professional advice should be taken prior to acting on any part of it. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.
First, the bad news
In the month since the BoE base rate reached a historic low, not only have banks not passed along the savings, the number of deals available on the market halved.
There are some explanations for this, however. Government sanctioned mortgage payment holidays are dominating resources, banks have withdrawn many tracker mortgages because of the extremely low rates, and the lockdown prevents in-person valuations.
The number of tracker mortgage products have reduced by 67%, with just 96 available (MoneyFacts).
Now, some good news
Despite the number of deals dropping, there are still great options with excellent rates available. Keep in mind that these measures are only temporary and many lenders are already considering increasing the product range again.
For the most part, banks have passed on the savings by way of a standard variable rate reduction. In fact, according to MoneyFacts, as of 8th April out of the 10 biggest lenders, the only banks that haven’t passed on the full saving are Coventry Building Society and Yorkshire Building Society. Many smaller building societies also haven’t, but that doesn’t mean they won’t do so in the future.
Here’s a full list of all lenders that have made rate cuts. (MoneyFacts, as of 8 April)
- Accord
- Barclays
- Bath
- Chelsea
- Clydesdale
- Coventry
- Danske
- Darlington
- Ecology
- First Direct
- Furness
- Gatehouse
- Halifax
- Hanley
- HSBC
- Leeds
- Lloyds
- Metro Bank
- Nationwide
- Natwest
- Platform
- RBS
- Santander
- Skipton
- TSB
- Ulster Bank
- Virgin Money
- Yorkshire Bank
- Yorkshire Building Society
If you’re current mortgage deal is about to come to an end
It’s still a difficult time in the mortgage business right now. Lenders are focused on servicing their current customers so many borrowers wishing to switch may experience delays.
Your mortgage provider should have a protocol in place to alert you of the maturing of your mortgage with ample time to switch if that’s what’s best. If you’re switching deals with the same lender, most of the time that can be done online, but if you’re changing providers, the earlier you begin the process, the better.
If you have any questions about how the base rate reduction might affect you or if you need any assistance, be sure to contact our lead mortgage adviser, Chris Spurgeon, for a mortgage review.
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Dental & Medical Financial Services have been helping doctors and dentists with finding low-cost mortgages for your home and investment properties for over 25 years. Call Chris to discuss your options.
Tel: 01403 780 770