How do mortgage rates relate to the base rate?

[highstep]

I remember years ago being told mortgage rates tend to sit about 2% higher than the base rate. So the base rate is currently 4% mortgage rates don't seem to be much higher than that currently (where I'm looking for aboit 75/80% LTV) when the base rate was 0.1% we got about 2% interest rate (quite high LTV to be fair) how come mortgage rates aren't higher right? I know the base rate is meant to go down very gradually, but will mortgage rates sit about where they are now? Are they expected to get much higher? Will they reduce when the base rate goes down?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, and I am fully aware these things aren't predictable if we knew we'd be rich etc etc, but just wondering if there was a precedence or if any of my questions above are answerable?!

Tracker rates will track the base rate.

Years and years ago (so it may not be the same now) I worked for a teeny tiny building society, and our Finance Manager would purchase a few million pounds on the finance market and we would work out what we could do with that money, ie what rate we could sell it at, with what sort of extras eg free valuation. So our fixed rate mortgages were only indirectly linked to the Bank of England base rate.

My little understanding is that there is fewer mortgage applications so banks have tried to drop rates to stay competitive. I reckon this, coupled with confidence in the base rate dropping further later in the year.