While mortgage deals are being reduced, lenders are remaining very picky about who they advance credit to.
Britain's mortgage lenders are continuing to cut their rates, in a welcome boost for hard-pressed homeowners and buyers.
According to new analysis from the Times newspaper, lenders such as the Britannia building society are making further reductions on their deals. The firm has cut rates for buyers who have deposits of ten percent or more by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, HBOS has reduced the rates of 31 of its mortgage deals, with up to 0.4 percent off for those with ten percent deposits - and still more for those with larger lump sums. Elsewhere, Intelligent Finance and BM Solutions, owned by HBOS, have cut some mortgages by as much as 0.6 percent, and Woolwich, owned by Barclays, has cut loans for borrowers with a lump-sum deposit of 40 percent or more by 0.38 percent.
Melanie Bien, of Savills Private Finance, the mortgage broker, told the newspaper that these reductions were part of an across-the-board trend. She also counselled that lenders were still being more careful than usual about who they lend to, as the credit crunch continues to take its toll.
"It is still the case that the higher the deposit or level of equity you have - and in many cases, you now need 40 per cent or more - the better the rate you are likely to get," she commented. "Rates have been falling but criteria is generally still not easing. Lenders have been checking credit histories and favouring only those with the cleanest record.
"Caution still remains in the market."
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