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Woolwich slashes rates by up to 0.50%
Barclays Mortgages from Woolwich has cut its rates for the sixth time since April, dropping the cost of over a third of its fixed and tracker rate loans.
From tomorrow, rates will be reduced by up to 0.50% on some of its deals and the provider launches two FirstBuy products for the government’s first-time buyer equity loan scheme for new-builds.
New buyers using the FirstBuy Direct scheme will be offered a three year fixed rate mortgage at 4.59% or a five year fixed rate at 5.49%. Both come with a £299 application fee and revert to a lifetime tracker at base + 2.99%.
Meanwhile, the provider will offer a two year fixed rate at 70% loan-to-value (LTV), cut from 2.69 per cent to 2.49 per cent for customers who qualify for a Barclays Loyalty mortgage – so, have a current account with at least £800 deposited each month for the last three months. The bank is offering other borrowers a rate of 2.54%.
The five year fix at 70 per cent LTV is 3.88% for Barclays Loyalty mortgages and 3.98 per cent for all other customers.
The lender said the cuts of up to 0.30% on these deals make them the lowest ever rates offered on these terms. A spokesperson said the lender sets its rates dependent on swap rates, competition and results.
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“In terms of rate cuts, this is the craziest period I’ve seen for a couple of years,” she added.
The two year fixed rate Great Escape remortgage package, with no fee for legals, valuations or the application with a £300 cash back, was extended to 85 per cent LTV last month and will be cut from 4.69% to 4.19% tomorrow.
Andy Gray, head of mortgages for Barclays, said: “We would encourage people to act now and review their mortgage – it is impossible to tell how long these historically low rates will be available for.”