Halifax Intermediaries will introduce three-year fixed-rate remortgage products tomorrow (20 October).
The lender’s new offers cover:
- Three-year fixes up to 60% loan to value, with a £999 fee, at 5.08% — repayment and interest only
- Three-year fixes up to 75% LTV, with a £999 fee, at 5.28% — repayment and interest only
- Three-year fixes up to 80% LTV, with a £999 fee, at 5.52% — repayment only
- Three-year fixes up to 85% LTV, with a £999 fee, at 5.55% — repayment only
- Three-year fixes up to 90% LTV, with a £999 fee, at 5.64% — repayment only
The move comes as borrowers look for cheaper options as 800,000 fixed-rate deals are due to end in the second half of this year, according to banking trade body UK Finance, with around 1.6 million deals ending in 2024.
Many of the homebuying market’s core two- and five-year deals were signed at sub-2% mortgage rates, but both of these terms now hover around 6%, as the Bank of England base rate has lifted 14 times since December 2021. The current central bank base rate is 5.25%.
This has left homeowners continuing to sign higher two-year deals, while hoping that mortgages will ease over the period.
However, other borrowers have sought different options, such as tracker, part-and-part, interest-only periods and three-year loans as interim bets, also hoping that fixed home loan rates fall in the short to medium term.
John Charcol mortgage technical manager Nicholas Mendes says: “A much-needed addition to the three-year fixed rate proposition from Halifax, we’ve seen many mortgage holders opting against a two-year fixed due to the rate but equally cautious with opting for a higher five-year fixed rate.
“This latest edition from Halifax will help ease the pressure but also strike a fine balance between both worlds for mortgage holders.”
Halifax says its broker website will be updated by 4.30pm today.
Its intermediaries online and sourcing systems will be updated by tomorrow.
The business tells brokers to secure existing product codes, applications should be submitted in full by 8pm today.
