This includes the five-year fixed rate at 90 per cent LTV, which has been reduced from 3.39 per cent to 2.89 per cent. This has an application fee of £199 and a minimum loan amount of £150,000.  

The five-year fixed rate at 85 per cent LTV has also been cut from 2.89 per cent to 2.59 per cent. This also has an application fee of £199, while the minimum loan is £100,000. 

Neither product is available for lending on new-builds or flats. 

Dan Atkinson, head of intermediaries at the Melton, said: “These reductions are great news for first time buyers, particularly when combined with our flexible standard lending criteria. 

“We’re committed to helping first-time buyers get onto the property ladder by ensuring we offer a choice of competitively priced products, combined with lending criteria that supports affordability and today’s varied lifestyles.” 

The rate for the two-year fixed rate product is priced at 3.49 per cent, at 75 per cent loan to value (LTV), with a £199 fee.

There is a £1,299 completion fee and two years’ early repayment charges.

Dan Atkinson, head of intermediaries at The Melton, said: “Demand for holiday buy to let remains strong and this addition of a fixed rate complements our existing discounted product giving customers more choice.”

The interest coverage ratio calculation on the holiday buy to let is 130 per cent of the mortgage payment, at a stressed rate of 5.5 per cent, which is lower than the lender’s standard product range.

The product is available on regulated and non-regulated cases to first-time buyers, first-time landlords and non-owner occupiers with a minimum income of £25,000, which can be shared between joint applicants. 

There is no upper age limit. 

“Our flexible criteria, combined with manual underwriting, makes our holiday buy to let an attractive proposition for investors looking to make the most of the staycation boom,” Atkinson added.

The shared ownership product is available up to 95 per cent LTV, is fixed for five years and has a rate of 3.99 per cent. 

Meanwhile, the existing standard residential five-year fix at 90 per cent LTV has been cut from 3.59 per cent to 3.39 per cent. 

Dan Atkinson, head of intermediaries at the Melton, said: “We temporarily withdrew our shared ownership offering last year to maintain our service levels.  

“The Melton has long supported first-time buyers with a range of shared ownership mortgages and innovative lending criteria to help them get on the housing ladder.

“Together with our competitively priced high LTV standard residential mortgage, we have a great offering for first-time buyers.” 

The West Brom 

The West Brom has reduced rates on lower LTV products by up to 45 basis points and added £1,000 cashback to some deals. 

The rate on a fee-free two-year fixed mortgage at 60 per cent LTV has been reduced from 1.59 per cent to 1.54 per cent while a fee-free five-year fixed at 75 per cent LTV has been cut from 2.09 per cent to 1.99 per cent. 

Products with £1,000 cashback include a five-year fixed purchase deal at 75 per cent LTV with no fee and a rate of 2.14 per cent.

Another mortgage which offers £1,000 cashback is the five-year fixed at 60 per cent LTV, also with no fee. This has a rate of 1.79 per cent. 

Richard Scott, head of intermediaries at the West Bromwich Building Society, said: “We are pleased to be able to offer this latest range of competitive products.

“They include interest–only and a range of incentives and options, including a free valuation, cashback and early repayment charge free discount variable rates up to 90 per cent LTV, to help our intermediary partners find the best deals for their clients.”

The five-year fixed at 90 per cent is now 3.59 per cent, down from 3.79 per cent while the alternative at 85 per cent LTV is 2.89 per cent, from 3.09 per cent. 

Both products have minimum loan amounts of £150,000, a £199 application fee and are not available on new builds and flats. 

The availability of these products has also broadened since the mutual’s return to the high LTV market in November, where mortgages were limited to first-time buyers in the local Melton area.  

The high LTV offerings are now eligible to buyers in England and Wales but London properties are still excluded. 

Dan Atkinson, head of intermediaries at the Melton, said: “We’ve supported homeowners throughout the pandemic and to help our local first–time buyers we re-entered the high LTV market in November last year with a locally restricted product. 

“To keep up with the ever increasing demand for low deposit mortgages, we’ve now removed this restriction to make our products available across the whole of England and Wales, with the exception of properties in London.” 

There will be a five-year fixed at 90 per cent LTV with a rate of 3.79 per cent which is only available to borrowers in the East Midlands area who are purchasing a property.  

There is also a five-year fixed at 85 per cent LTV at 3.09 per cent, which will be available to clients who are purchasing or remortgaging. 

Neither product will be available for new builds or flats and the minimum loan amount is £150,000. Both mortgages have an application fee of £199. 

These products will be available from 18 November. 

Dan Atkinson, head of sales and marketing at the Melton, said: “Despite today’s ever changing market we remain committed to providing customers with the best mortgage options. 

“Restricting our 90 per cent LTV product to the East Midlands will give our local customers the opportunity to find the right home and a better chance of securing these rates.” 

“Although we have to limit these high LTV products to protect our service levels, we hope that by giving brokers advance notice they will have more time to contact clients who may find our products suitable,” he added. 

MMBS Services, an advisory subsidiary of the Melton Group, will be trading as Mortgage Advice Bureau and using the network’s services, systems support and regulatory approval.   

The service will initially be operated from its head office in Melton Mowbray.  

Simon Taylor (pictured), chief executive of the Melton, said: “We already work very closely with our network of intermediaries so that the majority of our customers can benefit from the Melton’s innovative mortgage products.  

“Whilst we remain committed to supporting our broker network, this new partnership with MAB will allow us to reach even more customers and help them to find the right mortgage to achieve their home ownership goals.”  

Peter Brodnicki, chief executive of MAB, added, “This is the first time we’ve partnered with a lender to support our strategy of making it easy for customers to receive quality advice in a multitude of ways – face-to-face, over the telephone or digitally.   

“We share the same synergy with the Melton where quality advice and first-class customer service is always at the heart of everything we do.” 

The range is available for both purchase and remortgage, including staircasing. 

The five-year fixed for England and Wales has a rate of 2.25 per cent for a maximum loan to value (LTV) of 75 per cent. The offering for properties in London has a rate of 2.19 per cent and a maximum LTV of 55 per cent. 

The three-year deal for England and Wales is now 2.15 per cent up to 75 per cent LTV, and the London equivalent is 2.09 per cent up to 55 per cent LTV. 

All products have a £199 application fee. 

Dan Atkinson, head of sales and marketing at the Melton, said: “We are committed to helping first time buyers get onto the property ladder by ensuring we offer a choice of products that support affordability.”  

Reduced rates at MBS Lending 

The mutual’s credit repair subsidiary, MBS Lending has also cut rates by 0.5 per cent. 

This includes its near prime enhance two-year discounted product which now has a rate of 2.99 per cent with an application fee of £150 and completion fee of £995.  

This is available up to 70 per cent LTV. 

Atkinson added: “These reductions ensure we continue to offer a choice of credit repair products at competitive prices that deliver great outcomes for our customers.”  

Where appropriate, brokers will be able to make changes to the length of a mortgage term and change the repayment type. 

The update will be effective from today.  

Existing customers of the Melton Group can transfer their mortgage up to three months before the end of the term, either direct or through a mortgage broker, with no application or completion fees.  

Brokers will receive a 0.25 per cent procurement fee for each product transfer. 

Dan Atkinson, head of sales and marketing at the Melton, said: “Allowing brokers to make variations gives them the flexibility to advise clients on the full picture when they are considering a product transfer. 

“It also creates an additional submissions channel and valuable further business opportunities for brokers.” 

Overall, its loan book increased by £14m to £377m. This represented a 4.2 per cent rise from 2018’s closing figure of £362m.

The Melton Building Society holds £336m of the group’s total mortgage loan book.

Mortgage arrears as a percentage of total mortgage balances outstanding fell from 1.21 per cent to 0.9 per cent, which the group said reflected its continued drive to improve its loan credit quality.

The group’s profit before tax dropped by £0.2m to £1.2m, which it attributed to the investment into the launch of its peer-to-peer property lender Nexa Finance.

Martin Reason (pictured), chief executive of the Melton, said: “Despite an ongoing fragile economy and uncertain political climate in 2019, the society has performed well and remains focused on meeting the needs of its members for savings and mortgage.

“Clearly 2020 is proving to be a challenging year, however, prudent underwriting and a nimble approach to business means we are able to continue to support both brokers and our members during these unprecedented times.”

HSBC has made changes to its mortgage range, reducing the interest rate across a number of fixed rate mortgages and reintroducing its two-year tracker deals. 

The two-year tracker ranges from 1.39 per cent at 60 per cent LTV to 2.09 per cent at 90 per cent LTV, and all have no early repayment charges. 

The bank is reducing rates on 10 mortgages across 60 per cent to 75 per cent LTV.

Changes include its two-year fixed product at 60 per cent LTV with a £999 fee which has been cut by 0.05 per cent to 1.24 per cent. The fee-free equivalent is also reduced by 0.05 per cent to 1.54 per cent.  

HSBC’s five-year fixed mortgage at 60 per cent LTV with a £999 fee, has been reduced by 0.05 per cent to 1.44 per cent and the fee saver equivalent reduced to 1.69 per cent. 

The bank will process new applications with a desktop or automated valuation. 

HSBC said it also continues to add broker partners to the list of those who can access its products and it is now up to 181 firms, covering 13,500 brokers. 

Michelle Andrews, HSBC UK head of buying a home, said: “The unique set of circumstances brought about by recent events has led to some significant change set alongside some important constants.  

“One constant is to ensure we review our rates regularly and adjust them for our customers keeping them as competitive as possible.” 

The Melton brings back high LTVs 

The Melton Mowbray Building Society has relaunched its mortgage products up to 90 per cent LTV as of 17 April. 

The society has also introduced a new desktop valuation service which will be available on this range, provided it meets the relevant criteria. It will also be available on all products in the Melton’s credit repair subsidiary MBS Lending. 

New-build properties are exempt from the valuation service. 

The society cut its lending on new applications to 60 per cent LTV at the beginning of April citing the restrictions on valuations as the reason. 

Dan Atkinson, head of sales and marketing at the Melton, said: “The situation around coronavirus continues to change and we are adjusting to the ‘new normal’ way of life.  

“We are committed to ensuring that we can continue to service our brokers and our customers and we have therefore adapted our proposition to allow for desktop valuations to be completed on the majority of our products.”   

“This solution will enable us to continue processing applications with a streamlined approach, considering the all important safety of our customers,” he added.