Barclays has reduced rates on over a third of its Woolwich fixed and tracker mortgages by up to 0.50 percentage points from Tuesday 19 July, allowing borrowers to access some of the most competitive deals in the market.
At the same time, two FirstBuy Direct mortgages will be launched to support the government’s initiative aimed at helping more first-time buyers on to the housing ladder.
The new rates include a two year fixed rate at 70 per cent loan to value (LTV), cut from 2.69 per cent to 2.49 per cent for customers who qualify for a Barclays Loyalty mortgage, and 2.54 per cent for all other customers. The five year fixed rate mortgage at 70 per cent LTV is now 3.88 per cent for Barclays Loyalty mortgages and 3.98 per cent for all other customers. The cuts of up to 0.30 percentage points on these deals make them the lowest ever rates available on these terms from Barclays.
Other cuts are on the 80 and 85 per cent LTV mortgages, supporting borrowers who have a smaller deposit. This includes the two year fixed rate Great Escape remortgage package, extended to 85 per cent LTV last month, which has been cut from 4.69 per cent to 4.19 per cent. This is a market-leading package, allowing borrowers to switch their mortgage with no application fee, free legal work, free valuation and £300 cashback to cover the cost of their existing lender’s mortgage exit fees.
First time buyers purchasing a house under the FirstBuy Direct scheme will have a choice of a Woolwich three year fixed rate mortgage at 4.59 per cent or a five year fixed rate at 5.49 per cent. Both come with a £299 application fee and revert to a lifetime tracker at base + 2.99 per cent.
Andy Gray, head of mortgages for Barclays, said: “This is the sixth time in a row that we have made substantial cuts to our mortgages – great news for borrowers as they are getting access to some of our lowest ever rates. We would encourage people to act now and review their mortgage – it is impossible to tell how long these historically low rates will be available for. These latest deals provide borrowers with the opportunity to lock in at a great rate now and protect themselves against future base rate increases.
“For those who want the security of fixing, our new deals give a rate well below the industry average. A borrower with a mortgage of £150,000, switching from an SVR today at 4.69 per cent to our new two year fixed could save around £5,400 over two years and, if fixing for five years, savings of £4,300 can be made. This is just what borrowers need at a time when household budgets are being squeezed.”
All our mortgage deals allow borrowers to remortgage using our ‘Switch and Save’ service which provides free legal work and a valuation or £200 cashback.