First Direct has reduced its mortgage rates, lowering them by up to 0.17 percentage points following recent rate cuts by other major lenders last week. The bank has decreased rates across its range of two, three and five-year fixed repayment mortgages available to first-time buyers and home movers. Among the reductions is a cut on a two-year fixed-rate deal for borrowers with a 15% deposit. This rate is now set at 4.99%, down from 5.16%.
Last week, Halifax, HSBC UK, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Yorkshire Building Society were among those to shake up their ranges, with some lenders cutting their mortgage rates more than once over the past couple of weeks. Ben Merritt, the Yorkshire Building Society’s director of mortgages, said last week that market conditions had allowed it to reduce rates on several products across its range.