NatWest has increased rates for existing borrowers which comes into effect on 12 March, as the bank has said they are making the following changes to its existing customer product range.
- Switcher: Rate increase of up to 10bps on selected 2 and 5 year deals.
- Buy to Let – switcher: Rate increase of 5bps on 75% LTV 2 year deal with £995 product fee.
Gary Bush, financial adviser at MortgageShop.com said, “NatWest increasing mortgage rates for its existing borrowers at a time when the industry and market mood music is improving shows a lack of consideration by this lender for its cash-strapped customers.
“Due to new affordability calculations, many of NatWest’s existing customers will be unable to switch to other lenders, so this is not a good look.
“Lenders have a captive audience due to affordability reasons but that doesn’t mean they should profit from it.”
Justin Moy, managing dorector at EHF Mortgages said, “This is the second time this month that NatWest has increased rates for their existing clients.
“Admittedly, it’s not by a huge amount this time but collectively up to 0.2% this month.
“With Swap rates tipping down over the last few days, it seems an odd announcement. It certainly doesn’t hand much loyalty to existing borrowers.”
Darryl Dhoffer, adviser at The Mortgage Expert said, “NatWest joins the recent trend of lenders raising rates for existing borrowers.
“This comes despite a decrease in gilt rates and an expectation of falling SWAP rates in the coming weeks, following the stable and uneventful Budget.
“Ideally, declining swap rates should lead to lower mortgage rates from lenders in the near future.
“The key question is how quickly lenders will react to these falling rates. In the past, lenders have been swift to raise rates when swap rates increase. We can only hope they will be equally responsive when rates fall.”
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