Mortgage Payment increases….
Did yours go up?….

An estimated 1.2m mortgage holders received a rise in their monthly payments through an increase in their standard variable rate this spring – Were you one of them? and how much more will this add to your household bills?

Based on a £100,000.00 mortgage over 20 years on capital and interest repayment…..

• 850,000 Halifax customers that saw their rate rise from 3.5% to 3.99% – which represented an approximate increase of £306pa.
• 200,000 Royal Bank of Scotland offset mortgage holders saw their rate rise from 3.75% to 4% – which represented approx £157pa increase.
• 100,000 Bank of Ireland customers will see their rate rise from 2.99% to 3.99% – which represented approx £616pa increase.
• The Co-operative bank will be raising it’s rate from 4.24% to 4.74% – which represents approx £323pa increase.

Just in case you are feeling like you have missed something ‘No’ the Bank of England Base Rate has not suddenly increased.

With fixed rate mortgages as low as 3.69% not only could you build in the security of knowing what you are paying each month, but you could also potentially save money.

If you would like to discuss your existing mortgage, fixed rates or reducing your outgoings then please feel free to contact us on 01482 658989.

* Please note, the above SVR figures are believed to be correct, however as this is to be used as a simple guide we would obviously double check your particular circumstances before making any recommendations.

Attention Halifax Mortgage Customers….
…the increase to their standard variable rate from 3.5% to 3.99%

Many of you will have seen in this weeks press that Halifax will shortly be increasing their standard variable rate from 3.5% to 3.99%. Why is this? I hear you ask, and what can I do?

I received an email from the Halifax saying that this change acknowledges that the cost of funding a mortgage in today’s market remains significantly higher than the longer term average, and that they will be writing out to customers in the next few weeks advising them of their intention to increase the Halifax Standard Variable Rate. They are currently in the process of calculating customers’ monthly payments and will start writing to all affected customers from 10th April to explain the changes and provide new monthly payment details.

This marks the first rise in its SVR for three years and will affect roughly 850,000 of its customers and thousands more in coming months as borrowers that are currently on other deals revert back to the default standard variable rate.

So, as I said at the beginning, what can you do? well perhaps this is a time to consider discussing your current situation, and to consider whether or not now is the time to look at other deals available to you either with other mortgage lenders, or indeed within the existing range of deals that the Halifax offer. For example, for less than 0.5% more than their new SVR, and without any fees, you could fix your rate for the next 2 years.

If you are a Halifax customer and want to talk to us about this, please do not hesitate to call and we will be able to advise you on your options.