Woolwich cuts fixed-rate mortgage costs

Woolwich has announced it is to cut interest rates on its fixed-rate mortgage products, following a reduction in swap rates.

As a result, the company's ten-year fixed-rate deal will fall below six per cent to 5.97 per cent - making it a market leading rate - while its three year fixed offering drops by 0.20 percentage points to 6.29.

The Woolwich's five-year fix drops by 0.10 percentage points to 6.29 per cent.

A number of high street lenders have begun to cut rates in recent days, with Halifax revealing prices would fall on 20 of its 45 products, while Nationwide and Abbey have also recently announced cuts.

Woolwich – now part of Barclays - will also be introducing a 'best buy' Lifetime Tracker at 5.69 per cent, tracking 0.69 per cent above base rate for the life of the mortgage.

All new products will be available direct or through brokers at exactly the same rates.

"We have seen an improvement in the swap rates recently and have taken the opportunity to reduce our longer term fixed rates where we see customers can get the best value at the moment," said Andy Gray, Head of Mortgages for Woolwich.

"We have also decided to introduce a market leading Lifetime Tracker rate as we still feel this type of product offers the best value in the market at the moment, easily out stripping any two-year fix."

The new products will be offered on loan to values (LTV) of 60 per cent, which, according to Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) data, would mean they are available to 50 per cent of the mortgage market.

Other rates will continue to be offered up to 90 per cent LTV on both fixed and tracker rates.

All new products will have an initial fee of £995.

Chris O'Toole