11 November 2009
Nationalised mortgage lender Northern Rock is said to be on an aggressive drive to try and increase its customer base by cutting the rates on some of its mortgage products a number of times within a short period of time.
The lender recently cut the cost of some of its popular mortgage deals for the fourth time in the space of just a fortnight, and it is thought that the reason behind these moves is so that it can take a larger share of the mortgage market.
As well as cutting the interest rates on deals for those that have larger deposits to put down Northern Rock has also been working on deals for those that have a smaller deposit.
The lender hopes to increase the availability of its 80 percent loan to value mortgages, where borrowers would need to put down 20 percent of the property value. It hopes to do this in branches, via brokers, and online.
One mortgage broker stated: “These new deals are extremely competitive, proving that Northern Rock is really driving the market at the moment. Barclays made cuts to its mortgage deals earlier this week and Northern Rock have come back and undercut it again. It is very aggressive pricing and is designed to achieve the kind of lending targets that Northern Rock set itself in the middle of the year.”
The increased competition in the mortgage market, fuelled by better deals from lenders, has been welcomed by brokers and other industry professionals.
Tags: northern rock, northern rock mortgagesAn official from Northern Rock mortgages stated: “As these further rate reductions show, we continue working hard to offer a new mortgage proposition that meets the needs of both homebuyers and borrowers looking to remortgage.”
Beware of the latest Northern Rock deals. The headline rates are attractive but the application fees and valuation fees are high. On top of this they will not INCREASE their lending to you, on the original rate, if you wish to move home AND increase your debt. You will have to take out a new mortgage on new terms and they charge you penalties for cancelling the original deal. Disgrace !! Therefore they get penalties back to subsidize the cheap headline rates !!