Halifax has announced updates to its mortgage product range including a series of rate reductions and extensions to completion deadlines.
For homebuyer products, which cover first-time buyers, large loans, New Build, and Affordable Housing – including Shared Equity/Shared Ownership and corresponding Green Home products – completion dates have been extended by one month. Selected 2 and 5-year fixed rates within this category have seen reductions by up to 0.09%.
Similarly, remortgage products such as large loans and Affordable Housing – Shared Equity/Shared Ownership, alongside their Green Home equivalents, will also have their completion by dates extended by one month.
In addition, product transfer and further advance products will now have an extended deadline for completion by an additional month.
Furthermore, Halifax plans to implement more changes on 3 April. For remortgage products, including large loans and Affordable Housing – Shared Equity/Shared Ownership, along with Green Home products, there will be rate cuts of up to 0.11% on selected 2 and 5-year fixed rates. These rate reductions will also apply to product transfer and further advance products.
Reaction
Lewis Shaw, owner and mortgage expert at Shaw Financial Services:
“Is this the start of things to come? Let’s hope so. These rate reductions, whilst only marginal, are at least going in the right direction. Hopefully, we’ll see other lenders join the fray and inject a dose of optimism into the market.”
Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages:
“This announcement will cost more to communicate than the actual savings made. This is a minimal reduction, not enough to make anyone change their mind and make that decision to buy a home, if they were put off by high rates before. With the outlook for mortgage rates improving, lenders should embrace that opportunity as they did in January and stimulate the market, not make it feel as useless as a Chocolate Egg in a supermarket after Easter.”
Bob Singh, founder at Chess Mortgages:
“A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down couldn’t be more true with Halifax & BM both first out of the blocks this week to announce cuts, albeit, marginal. This paves the way for others to follow suit as we enter spring with a bounce. Some mildly encouraging data has also helped market sentiment.”
Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages:
“Whilst these minor reductions in rates are unlikely to tip the balance of any borrower decisions, all reductions are warmly welcomed at the moment, especially from the UK’s biggest lender, as this could influence further reductions from others.”
Gary Bush, financial adviser at MortgageShop.com:
“Lloyds Banking Group – Halifax and Birmingham Midshires reducing their rates on April 1st, a Bank Holiday break, did seem like an April Fools – especially when you look at the meagre size of the reductions. However, on the positive side, any reduction in rates by the largest lender in the UK is a positive step that hopefully will fire up the competitor lenders with something more sizeable – we wait and see.”
Andrew Montlake, managing director at Coreco:
“Whilst this move is not a giant leap for anyone, one small step in the right direction can make all the difference, and we can only hope this is the start of a series of steps that turn into a jog. Sentiment is everything in this market and a healthy dose of Spring positivity is exactly what the mortgage industry has ordered.”
Michelle Lawson, director at Lawson Financial:
“After the clocks changing, is now the time for the mortgage industry to start springing forward rather than falling back to old times? A good news start to Spring, a new month and a new quarter.”
Dariusz Karpowicz, director at Albion Financial Advice:
“Well, Halifax and BM Solutions trimming their fixed-rate deals is akin to a slight breeze rather than a gusty wind change. We’ve seen this dance before, with little shuffles here and there over the past few months – it’s become part of the scenery. Frankly, these cuts aren’t likely to set the world on fire or give the market a significant jolt. What we’re really on the lookout for is a proper spark – something like a hearty boost from the economy or a bold new government scheme that genuinely opens doors for buyers. That’s the kind of move that could genuinely stir things up.”
Graham Cox, director at SEMH Self-Employed Mortgages:
“The Halifax reducing rates after a couple of months of increases is further signs of the improving outlook for mortgages. They’re playing catchup somewhat, as some of the other major lenders reduced theirs before Easter. If this continues, we should see transaction levels improve as we head into the peak house-buying period.”
Ben Tadd, director at Lucra Mortgages:
“A step in the right direction for mortgage borrowers this morning, with arguably the biggest mortgage lender in the market reducing their rates. Although relatively small rate reductions have been announced for tomorrow from Halifax in the residential market and BM Solutions in the buy-to-let lending space, this could well trigger a response from some of the other big banks on the market in the coming week, with more lenders likely to follow suit.”
Akhil Mair, director at Our Mortgage Broker:
“It’s great to see Halifax and Birmingham Midshires taking proactive steps to support the mortgage market community and borrowers by reducing rates across various product ranges. This move not only demonstrates good intent from one of the largest mortgage providers but also injects a dose of optimism into the market after the easter break.”
Elliott Culley, director at Switch Mortgage Finance:
“Halifax have grabbed the initiative after the long easter weekend and have made some small reductions to their mortgage product range. This is a small step in the right direction for borrowers and may push other lenders to follow suit.”
Rohit Kohli, director at The Mortgage Stop:
“A positive start on the return from the easter break and hopefully the start of more lenders following suit. However, this does seem to be a new pattern with lenders just dipping their toes in more frequently with minor tweaks to reduce rates and more hesitance to return to a full-on rate war until we see more positive signals from Threadneedle Street towards a rate cut in the near future.”
