6% mortgage rates; trouble a'ht Mill

[Twiglets1]

This is a new 6% mortgage rates thread as the last one is almost full.

Thanks to KievLoverTwo for suggesting the second part of the title to reflect all the squabbling these threads are causing. Which could be a thing of the past of course. But realistically, it won't be.

Yes that is a strong message to people not to drift into paying a potentially very high standard variable rate through lack of planning.

First Direct has announced rate cuts across its fixed-rate repayment mortgage range, with deals below 4% set to be available from Friday. As part of the revamp, First Direct is launching two products at 3.99% from Friday.They include a 10-year fixed mortgage for people with a 40% deposit, with a rate of 3.99%, reduced by 0.98 percentage points from 4.97% previously.

Also for people with a 40% deposit, First Direct will offer a five-year fixed mortgage priced at 3.99% – a rate which is being reduced by 0.65 percentage points. The rates will be available to new and existing customers.

Among its two and three-year fixed rates, First Direct said fixed standard mortgages for people with at least a 15% deposit will be priced at under 5%, with the range beginning at 4.54% for new customers and 4.49% for switchers. For people with a 10% deposit, deals will start at 4.69% on First Direct’s five-year fixed standard mortgage.

https://www.independent.co.uk/money/first-direct-unveils-sub4-mortgage-rates-b2473108.html

Thank you for updating.

Seems that just Nationwide are the holdouts this week

So pleased I opted to go into the SVR on Wednesday when our deal ended instead of switching. I'm with FD and hope to get the 3.99 deal instead of the 4.84 one I had agreed. Apt tomorrow. Good news.

Not sure if I can ask for some advice!
I'm with an adverse lender, due to finish fixed rate Oct 2026
Wondering if I would qualify for a "normal" lender or not... credit score isn't great still
2 x defaults Oct 2022
1 missed payment Jan 2021

If I remortgage with the same broker they are seriously incredible and I would recommend them to anyone but they only deal with adverse lenders so my rate won't be great. Although I now fall in to their "best" category of adverse!
I've never remortgaged before either so not sure what's involved

I would happily give you advice but I don’t know much about adverse lending so honestly can’t tell you whether you would qualify for a “normal” lender or not by 2026, I hope someone else will be able to help.

With remortgaging, most people tend to stay with their current lender and the way it works is they contact you around 3-6 months before your current deal expires and offer you a few options re new mortgages - a 2 year fixed, a 5 year fixed etc. You then decide whether you want to accept any of them or instead look for a new lender.

If you decide to look for a new lender because you feel what they are offering isn’t very competitive, you could use a broker to try to find you a better deal (or shop around yourself).

I also don't know anything about adverse lenders, could you try going to a fee-free broker like London & County https://www.landc.co.uk/ and seeing what they say? You need some advice from someone with more knowledge in the sector. Or try banks/building societies and get some advice on whether you will qualify now or in 2026 with no further defaults or missed payments? Assuming that you are going to stay on your current fix until it runs out in 2026? If you can overpay your mortgage now, you would have more equity/lower interest or shorter term, understand this isn't always possible due to everything else being so expensive now.

@janicegarvey I would actually go against the grain and say it is a good time to think about upsizing. As soon as interest rates go lower the market will be more buoyant again. Now is the time to get a slightly better deal and if you can afford the repayments when you stick at 5. something for the next two years by that time they will be slower. If you wait you risk house prices rising again and ultimately paying more even though you will be on a lower rate by then as the house price will be higher.

I'm going to be more cautious. Normal interest rates are around 5/6/7% if you ignore the most recent abnormal period.

Anyone planning or hoping for less could come unstuck. Yes they may fall a little over the next year or so, but are equally likely to revert back to that long term norm. Treat anything less as a temporary bonus - not an expectation.

We were supposed to remortgage 2/1/24 but the solicitors have been really slow so we are on SVR (8.24%) and due to complete 8/1/24. We have agreed 5.24%
In the meantime the rates have gone down and we could get 4.81%. Spoke to the lender today, who would do this but would have to issue a new offer and completion date, so would be on SVR for likely another week.
The solicitors have agreed to cover our period of SVR due to being so slow. Not sure if they would if we delay another week. Not sure whether to put a stop to completion for Monday 8th now. Would love to see an end to this long drawn out process. Would also love to pay 4.81% instead of 5.24%.
Oh, and my current lender is offering 5.01% now, after all this.

Well I spoke to a guy who is a broker that I vaguely know and he said I am on the cusp of normal banks so fingers crossed for 2026!
Not possible to overpay unfortunately
He said it would either be building society or just on the verge of adverse so best to do a short fix then get a more competitive rate in 2 years when I am well out of adverse

Sounds promising for 2026 that’s good

Secured yesterday at 3.94% with a £490 booking fee. Really pleased. Keep shopping for deals!

That sounds like an excellent deal! Was it with FD or somewhere else (if you don’t mind saying) & was it 5 years fixed?

Delay the week! You're surely saving way more over the period of the fix!

Thank you. I need to do the maths as we might not get the SVR repaid and might lose our incentive etc. But I'm sure you are right. It's a two year fix.

Good advice, people who already have mortgage debt are naturally going to try for the best rate they can get to repay that debt, but people thinking of buying need to be careful that they don`t overpay at the top of a bursting bubble and get caught out with rate rises later on a big debt they could have avoided. There is a lot of cheerleading on this thread, not much sensible market analysis though........

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/interest-rate-cuts-unlikely-in-2024-warns-founding-mpc-member/ar-AA1myrS4

From the article.......

"It is feasible that the Bank could even need to make another increase in the Bank Rate to 5.5pc this year, she added."

I could easily see 6% base rate with the global situation as it is.

Honestly, I think this is really unlikely. It is far more likely that there will be one or more base rate cuts in 2024 but this is because I totally agree of the rosy picture she is painting. In that sense, rate cuts are bad news because it means that the central banks feel the need to support the economy. Couple this with grumbling geopolitical tensions, which may escalate, and the situation feels concerning.

@Twiglets1 yes with FD I've stayed with them for about 5 rate changes. I don't think brokers can access their deals and they are usually fairly competitive. They allow you to go into pensionable income and they allow overpaying. They offered a better than advertised deal for staying and the booking fee is fair.

I bank with them and rate their CS so that is another reason for staying.

Yes we chose to fix for 5 years which we haven't done for 15 years, usually we take two. This is due to the unstable geopolitical situation and the subsequent unknowns. Fortunately our LTV is very favorable we can overpay and recalculate at anytime.

I'm really relieved this is sorted. All the best to anyone shopping around this year. I would suggest now is a good time to book a deal if it's allowed.

Not long ago people were saying that 5% base rate was really unlikely? Things are very volatile at the moment, did you see U.S bond yields on Friday after the jobs numbers etc.? Things settled down quite quickly I think but people, including supposedly sophisticated investors, are addicted to the cheap money era and are grasping at anything that says it is coming back, and panicking when the numbers or FED speak say otherwise. NOT a good time to have big mortgage debt, pay it down or don`t take it on until prices drop properly.

Yes, lots of people did think 5% wasn't going to happen (I personally thought 5-5.5%, having researched and listened to some excellent, highly informed analysts). I agree that things are volatile and that the markets are desperate for cheap money to return. I think we will see rate cuts but this only signifies a worsening economic situation. I expect we will have more QE pumping (or equivalent) and a second inflationary wave at some point ? 2025.

Ah ok thanks. I bank with FD and really rate their CS too.

So what does all that mean for ftb? Stay away until things settle down?