The bank pulled its mortgages on Wednesday in preparation for the launch and updates which are effective from today.
Its shared ownership two- and five-year fixed purchase mortgages at 60 per cent LTV have both seen rates reduced by 0.10 per cent to 2.04 per cent.
Products within the 60-75 per cent and 75-80 per cent LTV tiers have been introduced to these ranges.
The shared ownership two-year fixed remortgage at 60 per cent LTV has seen a rate cut of 0.30 per cent to 1.84 per cent, and the five-year equivalent has had a rate drop from 2.14 per cent to 1.94 per cent.
Rate cuts of up to 0.20 per cent have been made across product transfer and buy-to-let purchase deals.
And rate reductions of up to 0.35 per cent have been made to the bank’s shared equity products with new deals introduced up to 80 per cent LTV.
TSB head of intermediary mortgages Beverley Bradford said: “The market has changed considerably in the last few weeks and we’re now seeing it spring back, particularly as estate agents are opening and there will be more physical valuations and so more customers are in need of a variety of products that suit their needs.”
MBS Lending launches two-year fixes
MBS Lending, the Melton Building Society’s credit repair subsidiary, has added four two–year fixed rate mortgages up to 70 per cent LTV to its offering.
Rates range from 3.49 per cent for Near Prime Enhance borrowers to 6.99 per cent for Credit Recovery borrowers. The products have fees of either £995 or £1,395.
MBS Lending has also increased the maximum loan amount to £500,000 across its entire residential mortgage range.
Dan Atkinson, head of sales and marketing at the Melton, said: “We are continually looking at ways to help people repair their credit to give them the opportunity to move onto a standard mortgage as quickly as possible and for customers who prefer to know exactly what their mortgage will cost every month, we now offer a choice of two and three year fixed rate products.”
TSB
TSB will prioritise properties in England that have been put on hold including unoccupied and new-build homes, before moving on to occupied properties.
The bank’s valuers will follow government guidance and ask questions to make sure a property is safe before inspection. The surveyor will also make onsite checks before entering the property.
All surveyors will have personal protective equipment (PPE) and are undergoing training to ensure they understand and follow government requirements regarding ‘working in other people’s homes’.
Where possible, valuations of properties will continue remotely.
Beverley Bradford, TSB’s head of intermediaries, said: “This is a great step forward, particularly for customers whose applications have been put on hold.
“We hope this latest news is some welcome relief for those who have been unable to process their application. We will operate safely and securely and if customers do not feel comfortable, we will work with them to arrange a valuation when they are comfortable to do so.”
NatWest
NatWest has confirmed it will restart physical valuations for residential and buy to let applications.
These valuations will apply to properties where the occupier has allowed access and the valuer confirms is safe to enter.
The changes exclude properties in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and applications where a homebuyer’s report or building survey has been requested. If an occupier does not give access or a valuer does not deem it safe, a physical valuation will not take place.
NatWest will provide updates as guidance changes in the other regions in the UK and where it is not able to complete a property valuation, the application will be put on hold.
The bank will instruct valuations on applications which have been put on hold before it move on to other properties.
Platform
Platform, part of Co-operative Bank, will work on applications that are currently on hold, completing them in date order starting with the oldest applications first.
Platform has asked brokers to inform them if there are any material changes to a client’s circumstances or if they no longer want to progress with the application.
Where a physical valuation is not possible, Platform will carry out a desktop valuation or put the application on hold.
Desktop valuations are available for residential remortgage and revaluations up to 80 per cent loan to value (LTV) and residential purchases up to 75 per cent LTV. The maximum property value is £1m in Greater London and £750,000 elsewhere.
Buy to let applications above 60 per cent LTV, new-build properties, non-standard construction, residential purchases above 75 per cent LTV and residential remortgages above 80 per cent LTV will not be eligible for desktop valuations.
Platform is reintroducing buy to let mortgages at up to 60 per cent LTV from 20 May 2020 and will be making rate reductions of up to 10 basis points to certain on sale products from Wednesday.
Fred Sharp, head of intermediary business at Platform said: “We are glad to reintroduce physical valuations in line with the guidance from today. The safety of our customers and valuers remains our number one priority and valuations will involve a detailed safety assessment.
“We understand that some customers will not feel comfortable letting a valuer into the property at this time, where this is the case we will attempt a desktop valuation or place the valuation on hold where this option is not possible.”
The lender has introduced a series of products to widen its 80 per cent loan to value (LTV) residential purchase offering, including two-, three-, five- and 10-year fixed rate deals.
The two-year fix with a £995 fee is available at 1.44 per cent, a three-year fee-free is at 1.89 per cent, a five-year fix with £995 fee is 1.74 per cent and 10-year fee free with five-year early repayment charges is 2.84 per cent.
The two-year tracker at up to 80 per cent LTV has a £995 fee and is available at 1.59 per cent.
In the 75 per cent LTV space, products have seen rates trimmed by up to 0.25 per cent.
Meanwhile in buy-to-let, TSB has introduced two-, three-, five- and 10-year fix rate purchase products at up to 75 per cent LTV.
TSB head of intermediary mortgages Beverley Bradford said: “We want to assist our customers as much as we can, particularly during these turbulent times.
“These new introductions reflect the needs of our customers particularly those seeking a higher loan size. We hope these new products will also offer some peace of mind to our customers and help more people borrow well.”
It is extending six-month mortgage offers by three months for borrowers who were yet to exchange on contracts but unable to complete.
Purchase and remortgage customers will be eligible for the extension.
This must be done through brokers who are required to complete a Coronavirus – Income Impact Form and confirm whether the borrower’s financial circumstances have been affected by the pandemic.
TSB has also introduced new products and cut rates on some existing deals.
It has launched three-year fixed remortgages at 80 per cent LTV with a £995 fee and fee-free equivalent with rates ranging from 1.44 per cent to 1.89 per cent.
There are also two- and five-year fixed remortgage products at 0-75 per cent LTV with a £1,495 fee. The two-year has a rate of 1.14 per cent up to 60 per cent LTV, and 1.19 per cent at up to 75 per cent LTV.
The five-year fixed remortgages up to 60 per cent LTV have an initial rate of 1.34 per cent and 1.54 per cent at 60-75 per cent LTV.
Two-year fixed purchase mortgages up to 60 per cent LTV have had rates cut by 0.20 per cent, while corresponding remortgages have had rate reductions of 0.10 per cent.
All product changes are effective from 1 May.
Accord ups rates on high LTVs
Accord has increased the rates on mortgages at 90 and 95 per cent LTV by up to 18 basis points as of 1 May.
The lender confirmed that 15 of its high LTV products would see a rate increase. It also launched a five-year fixed fee-free 95 per cent LTV product with a rate of 3.55 per cent.
To allow applications to progress amid social distancing rules, Accord will also temporarily allow borrowers to digitally sign documents if they are seeking an additional loan or porting a residential mortgage.
Leeds BS makes rate changes
Leeds Building Society has reduced rates on two-year fixed mortgages by up to 0.20 per cent as of today.
The society’s two-year fix at 75 per cent LTV with a £1,999 fee has seen its rate cut from 1.34 per cent to 1.24 per cent while the £999 fee equivalent has been cut from 1.55 per cent to 1.39 per cent.
The fee-free offering at this tier has seen a rate change from 1.89 per cent to 1.70 per cent.
Two-year fixed buy to let products at 60 and 70 per cent LTV have also seen rate reductions by up to 20 basis points.
Leeds BS has introduced a two-year fixed fee-free deal at 80 per cent LTV with a rate of 1.85 per cent to replace an existing offer which had a rate of 1.69 per cent and a £999 fee.
This follows the bank’s relaunch of fee free products up to 80 per cent LTV after it temporarily cut its lending back to 60 per cent LTV in response to the health crisis.
The new offerings include two-, five- and 10-year house purchases fixes at 60-75 per cent LTV with a £995 fee.
The two- and five-year products have initial rates ranging from 1.49 per cent to 1.84 per cent while the 10-year equivalent has rates from 2.09 per cent to 2.59 per cent.
TSB has also launched two- and five-year fixed remortgage products at 60-80 per cent LTV with a fee of £995. The rates for these products range from 1.39 per cent to 1.89 per cent and come with £300 cashback.
The 10-year remortgage equivalents have rates from 2.09 per cent to 2.59 per cent and also come with £300 cashback, but only go to 75 per cent LTV.
These new products are effective from 24 April.
TSB has increased the stress rate for buy to let customers taking a five-year or higher term fixed product or remortgage with no additional borrowing from 4.5 per cent to five per cent.
It means the rate is five per cent for remortgages with no additional borrowing for purchases and remortgages where a fixed-rate period of five-years or more is selected.
The new stress rate also applies to remortgages for existing residential owner-occupied and buy to let borrowers where a fixed rate period of five years or more is selected.
Barclays revisions
Barclays has rejigged some of its deals in its reward and buy-to-let range.
The lender has raised rates on six of its reward mortgages between 60 and 85 per cent loan to value (LTV).
There are also increases on a number of trackers in the range, and four buy-to-let deals. At the same time, rates are being reduced on a few reward deals between 60 and 75 per cent LTV.
In a statement on its website, the bank said: “To make sure we’re looking after our customers through Covid-19, we’ve temporarily removed our restrictions on customers applying for a rate switch when on a payment holiday.”
TSB’s decision follows Halifax Intermediaries’ product transfer update brought in before the Easter break.
Nationwide, Barclays, Accord and Family Building Society have also confirmed they will allow product transfers during payment holidays.
In mid-March, chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announced that banks would offer a three month holiday to those facing financial difficulty because of the spread of coronavirus.
However, brokers found that some lenders would not allow a homeowner whose deal ended during the payment freeze, to switch to a new rate.
More than 1.2 million mortgage payment holidays have been issued to homeowners so far, according to UK Finance.
The number of mortgage payment holidays in place more than tripled in the two weeks between 25 March and 8 April, growing from 392,130 to 1,240,680. One in nine mortgages is now on hold.
The lender has also introduced buy-to-let deals up to a maximum 75 per cent LTV.
It was forced to slash its range of deals and eventually cut them to a maximum of 60 per cent LTV as a result of the impact of the coronavirus.
From today it has introduced fee free house purchase products up to 75 per cent LTV at two-, five- and 10-year fixed rates.
Both the two- and five-year fixed rates are at 1.89 per cent.
The 10-year deals come with an option of early repayment charges (ERCs) over five or 10 years.
On remortgages it has introduced two-, five- and 10-years fixes at 60-75 per cent LTV and 75-80 per cent LTV bandings.
Rates start at 1.74 per cent.
For the 75-80 per cent LTV 10-year fix, only a five-year ERC option is available.
For buy-to-let landlords, two-, three- and five-year fee free remortgage deals have been added, with rates starting at 2.39 per cent.
TSB head of intermediary mortgages Beverley Bradford said: “We’re making these changes so new customers have a variety of no-fee products to suit their needs.
“We want to assist our customers as much as we can and we will therefore continually assess the market and our product range to ensure we have the most suitable products available for our customers.”
Barclays has been forced to remove the majority of its mortgage product range as a further move to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is now only accepting applications for products of up to 60 per cent loan to value (LTV).
The lender was forced to close two of its international underwriting sites over the weekend, leading it to temporarily withdraw its entire portfolio buy-to-let (BTL) range and limit application volumes.
It apologised to brokers for the inconvenience and asked for their understanding in the unprecedented situation.
A Barclays spokesman said: “Regrettably it has been necessary to withdraw a further selection of products across our residential and buy to let ranges.
“This action has been taken to support us in managing the flow of applications into our UK underwriting teams following the closure of our key offshore sites.
“At the same time it enables our colleagues to provide greater help to those customers requesting mortgage payment holiday arrangements for financial support.
“We expect to launch a fresh range of residential and buy to let products shortly and we apologise for any inconvenience this causes in the interim.”
He added: “We currently have a number of purchase products available for customers with low LTV’s 60% or less in addition to Family Springboard Mortgage and our Wealth and International Mortgage range.”
TSB
TSB has also pulled a substantial number of residential and buy-to-let mortgages.
The lender has removed all buy to let fee products including trackers, leaving it with 16 BTL products for purchase and remortgage up to a maximum 75 per cent LTV.
On the residential side it has withdrawn all three-year fixed products, and also two- and five-year remortgage deals at up to 75 per cent LTV with a £1,495 fee.
However, TSB has cut some product transfer rates for residential and buy-to-let deals by up to 0.3 per cent.
A TSB spokesperson said: “We continuously review our products to ensure we help more people borrow well.
“Given these unprecedented times, we want to support our customers as best we can, that means making changes to our existing range so we’re best placed to support our customers who are in need of extra financial support, particularly those requesting mortgage payment holidays.”
