Halifax wrote to me saying their standard variable rate will increase by 0.49% on 1st May from 3.50% to 3.99%. That takes me up by only £9 a month extra, or just over £2 a week extra from £256 to £265. My mortgage finishes Feb 2014, I'd extended it a while back as it was originally going to finish later this year. I asked the Halifax today if they could now fix my rate at my current amount. They said you have to have a remaining term of at least 2 years to do that and I'm just under that, around 1 year 10 months. He said I can extend my mortgage to May 2014 to keep my repayment amounts the same, they'd reduce the monthly amount slightly to spread it over the extra months. I'm not really sure why they need to do that, what the benefit is of them extending it if it keeps the amount they get from me the same anyway. So, I'm debating on whether to bother extending it for the sake of a couple of quid saving per week or finishing the mortgage earlier in February. What do you think, what would you do? As I say, I've already extended in once. This would then be another 3 months.
Mortgage increase
- Thread starter Merlin5
- Start date
Yeah, I probably won't bother.
The letter says "Unfortunately, the economic situation over the past few years has had a major effect on the cost of raising money we lend our customers. The mortgage conditions which apply to your mortgage allows us to change the Halifax Standard Variable Rate where we have a valid reason. The reason we are changing the interest rate now is as a result of these market conditions and the increased cost of borrowing money."
What they really mean of course is:
"The mortgage conditions which apply to your mortgage allows us to MAKE BILLIONS MORE than normal."
Thanks, it's been 25 years in the making so far.
Took it out in 1987, based on an imaginery salary that I was nowhere near. My girlfriend of the time had a good friend who worked for legal and general. He sorted me out with an endowment mortgage. I managed to get through the first few years with a bit of a struggle. I eventually surrendered the endowment as it was never going to pay off my mortgage, let alone give me any bonuses, paid off a large chunk of the mortgage with it, and changed to a normal repayment mortgage. Good luck with yours, you're on the property ladder now!
I'm just coming off a 2yr fixed rate at 4.09%, down to woolwich's (Barclays) svr at 2.49%
Think I am going to leave it on svr for now and just take the chance interest rates won't move a lot in the next couple of years and throw as much overpayment I can at it. 16yrs left on mine though.
Think I am going to leave it on svr for now and just take the chance interest rates won't move a lot in the next couple of years and throw as much overpayment I can at it. 16yrs left on mine though.
2.49% is a good rate. I'm just in the process of sorting a lifetime tracker at 2.59% (BoE base rate) thinking that rates are not going to go anywhere for a little while yet *crosses fingers* Overpay as much as you can afford, it will help you in the long run.
Yep.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eady-quit-Halifax-mortgage-rate-increase.html
"The bank is increasing its standard variable rate mortgage from 3.5per cent to 3.99per cent from May 1, costing 850,000 customers hundreds of pounds per year.
Other lenders are likely to follow suit and increase their charges - despite the Bank of England base rate being held at a historic low of 0.5per cent for three years.
The increase, which is the first for three years, will be seen as rank profiteering by homeowners.
Halifax is not alone in increasing its rate for existing customers. The RBS-NatWest group, which is 80per cent owned by the taxpayer, is increasing the mortgage rate charged to 200,000 customers by 0.25 of a point to 4per cent."
Yea, I have the offer to fix for another 2 years at 2.99%, which is a very good offer too, but checking all the details,I saw after that I would drop to a svr of base + 3.39%, instead of the base +1.99% now....sneaky!
Always remember to check the small print!
I had seen this the other day, as usual the banks blame the Libor rate instead of boe rate.
But I can't see the boe rate rising rapidly any time soon, maybe 0.5-1.0% over the next year or two....but who knows