NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) and Virgin Money UK PLC (LSE:VMUK) have joined the mortgage rate battle, reducing interest on their fixed deals after four major UK lenders began cutting the rates on their offerings earlier this week.
Reducing rates for its house purchase and fixed home loans by as much as 0.65 percentage points, NatWest’s five-year fixed rate with a 10% deposit, currently set at 6.64%, will now be available at a rate of 5.99%.
Cutting rates for other deals, including buy-to-let and shared equity mortgages, the lender has joined the likes of Halifax, HSBC and TSB who all lowered rates by around 0.70 percentage points this week.
Virgin Money, on the other hand, is launching a ‘flash sale’ of remortgage deals, available for just seven days in August, with the cuts designed to stabilise monthly payments.
Kylie-Ann Gatecliffe, director at North Yorkshire-based KAG Financial, said: “The competition is on. It is great to see high street lenders reducing rates, and a rate war is welcomed by us brokers wanting to offer borrowers more appealing products. I suspect others will follow suit and we will hopefully see the lenders yet to reduce also start to reprice.”
NatWest shares opened half a percent higher on Friday morning and are trading at around 236p, while Virgin Money is trading flat having opened at just under 170p.