On Skipton’s latest podcast in association with Mortgage Solutions, when asked how the mutual would make sure its pricing was suitable for first-time buyers in light of external factors such as increasing house prices and rates, Bradley said: “We’re definitely dusting off our procedure manuals for that, we haven’t seen a base rate rise since summer 2018.
“Some of our colleagues have never even seen a base rate rise so that’s quite an interesting dynamic for them. So, we’re working through what a potential rise would mean for Skipton and our customers.”
She added: “We’ve recently been hit with such a significant increase in swap rates which we do expect is largely due to the ongoing speculation around the base rate. It’s definitely having an impact on how competitive we can price our products.
“Unfortunately, it’s something that we have little to no influence to control.”
She said Skipton was also considering how this, and subsequent base rate increases, could affect borrowers in the long term as she predicted there would be multiple changes made by the central bank.
Last week, the Bank of England decided to hold the base rate at its record low of 0.1 per cent despite speculation this would go up.
Bradley added that Skipton had no choice but to “follow the bigger lenders” to remain competitive.
The mutual also confirmed its recent move to raise its lending limit to 95 per cent loan to value (LTV) for new-build properties and widen its loan to income ratio to 4.49 for households earning £40,000 or less and in need of more than 85 per cent LTV.
Listen to our latest podcast [13.13] (for intermediary use only) hosted by commercial editor of Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions, Shekina Tuahene featuring Skipton Building Society’s mortgage product lead Vicky Bradley and senior credit risk analyst Diane Harrison.
