Halifax, HSBC and Barclays to raise mortgage rates

Several major mortgage lenders have announced rate rises of up to 0.20% across their ranges from tomorrow.

Halifax is increasing all two, three and five-year fixed rates for first-time buyers and home movers by up to 0.20%. In addition, two-year trackers are increasing by up to 0.10% for both purchase and remortgage.

Barclays is increasing rates across its residential purchase, remortgage and product transfer products by up to 0.20%, with the largest increases to existing customer rates.

HSBC is also increasing rates from tomorrow, but has not yet announced details of the changes.

The latest round of mortgage rate hikes follows increases from lenders including NatWest, Nationwide, Coventry and Virgin Money last week.

Hina Bhudia, partner at Knight Frank Finance, commented: “This morning Halifax, HSBC and Barclays all notified brokers of rate increases taking effect tomorrow. 

"Up until the end of last week, the market had been relatively calm, with borrowers benefiting from a range of competitively priced tracker and fixed rate products. However, a sharp rise in swap rates, driven by heightened geopolitical tensions and the escalating conflict in Iran, has prompted lenders to reprice. 

"In some cases, the increases are significant, highlighting how quickly uncertainty in global markets can feed through to mortgage pricing.”