Ann Gatecliffe News Today

Top mortgage broker says major lenders are now engaged in a price war as rates dip below 4 per cent

Big lenders become latest to reduce borrowing costs, joining four other UK home loan providers this week

Halifax, NatWest and First Direct are among a stream of major lenders announcing cuts to their mortgage rates.

The bank announced it is reducing rates for new customers and those remortgaging, with deposits or equity of at least 10%.

Currently the average two-year fixed rate across all deposit sizes is 6.79%, down from an average rate of 6.81% yesterday, according to MoneyFacts.

Mike Staton, Director at Staton Mortgages, stated "The Bank of England has slowly tortured homeowners in the UK for the past 16 months. They have consistently

House prices remain high despite predictions of a significant fall this year and interest rates are unlikely to fall back down to where they were 12 months ago after the calamitous mini-budget last autumn.

EXCLUSIVE: Zero-deposit mortgages could prove invaluable to people trapped in extortionately-priced rental cycles, but are they as good as they sound? Express.co.uk spoke to mortgage experts to find out the positives as well as the potential fallbacks.

Brokers have said the first-time buyer market has been “dwindling” since the Help to Buy scheme has wound down, and called for more schemes, more housing and targeted housing policy.

Monthly mortgage payments could fall by 25% by the end of 2023, according to analysis by wealth manager Quilter.