NatWest pledges 24 hours’ notice on rate changes  

NatWest has pledged to give brokers 24 hours’ notice on mortgage rate changes where it can.  

The high street bank, however, says it reserves the right to pull rates quickly if significant market activity dictates.  

Brokers have long complained that lender changes of only a few hours scuppers a borrower’s chance of securing a mortgage, and can lead to clients making rushed decisions that later turn out to be mistakes.  

A NatWest spokesperson says: “It’s always been our ambition to support the market with as much notice as possible before making a rate change.   

“We have listened to our broker partners and we’ll continue to do this as well as looking at further ways that we can support them.”  

Intermediaries will hope that other major lenders such as Lloyds Banking Group, Santander, HSBC, Nationwide and Barclays follow suit.  

Others have questioned whether lenders routinely handing out short-notice rate changes falls foul of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty rules on fair outcomes for consumers.   

Coventry Building Society is widely seen as leading best practice in this area, with the mutual giving brokers two days’ notice before making a major product change.