Council of Mortgage Lenders defends base rate discrepancy
With the Bank of England deciding to keep its base rate at 0.5 per cent yesterday (September 10th), the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has advised on what that means for home loan customers.
While some reports from websites such as moneysupermarket.com claim that mortgage interest levels should not be so high when the base rate is at an all-time low, the CML claims it is not that simple.
"It is utterly misleading to look at any individual benchmark rate - whether Bank rate, Libor, or swap rates - and assume that the margin between that rate and the mortgage rate is pure "profit" in the way that some recent commentary has implied," said director general Michael Coogan.
He added that there is a complex range of factors which affect how mortgage lenders set their interest levels, including how much funding costs, the balance between borrowing maturity and that of their financing and administration charges.
Mr Coogan continued: "The real picture is not nearly so simple - lenders face a broad range of pressures. This is causing a change in the relationship between benchmark rates and mortgage rates in comparison with the pre-credit crunch era."
Financial advice website Moneyfacts recently looked back at the last six months the Bank of England's base rate has been set at 0.5 per cent and found that mortgage interest has still risen.
Customers have seen "very little benefit" from the base rate drop, according to the site, with mortgage lenders making sure their balance sheets are repaired before passing on discounts to homeowners.
© Copyright
Related Articles
- Mortgage lenders reflect on stamp duty holiday trends - 31st December, 2009
Home buyers in the north of England have benefitted most from the stamp duty holiday, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has suggested today (December 31st).
The tax break, which was originally announced in September 2008, saw the nil rate threshold for stamp duty temporarily increased to £175,000... - Moneysupermarket.com claims mortgage numbers have increased - 21st January, 2010
A website has claimed that the number of mortgage products on the UK market has surpassed 2,500 for the first time since May 2009.
Moneysupermarket.com, which provides consumers with loan information and advice, found that the amount of mortgage products has risen for the third successive month... - Building society mortgage lending flat in November - 5th January, 2010
Mortgage lending by building societies was largely unmoved in November from the previous month, it was suggested yesterday (January 4th).
According to new figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA), gross lending was £1.6 billion, which was comparable with the total of £1.7 billion for October... - Home mortgage customers need repossession help - 15th December, 2009
More property owners in the UK will be threatened by repossession as they struggle to keep up home mortgage repayments if the government does not increase the help it provides.
Research by Citizens Advice, along with AdviceUK and Shelter, has found that some homeowners are still slipping through the net when it comes to supporting all of those having trouble meeting their debt obligations... - Mortgage lenders see fewer Britons in arrears in Q3 - 18th December, 2009
Britons made a concerted effort to get on track with their mortgage repayments during the third quarter of 2009, according to new figures.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) confirmed that an average of 395,000 mortgage holders found themselves in arrears between July and September - a decline of two per cent from Q2... - Rising home mortgage costs forcing Britons to skimp on heating - 6th January, 2010
Ever-increasing home mortgage costs are forcing Britons to spend less on gas and electricity bills, it was suggested today (January 6th).
Shelter commissioned a YouGov survey of 5,438 people which found that 27 per cent are adopting this strategy, representing roughly 11.3 million people across the UK... - Bank of England loan information figures reveal fall in homebuyer loans - 2nd February, 2010
The latest loan information figures from the Bank of England have found that the number of loans made to homebuyers fell in December, the first drop in more than a year, the Times reports.
It has been revealed that mortgage approval rates declined in the last month of the year, though the fall came against the expectations of most housing market experts... - Bank of England loan information numbers show tracker mortgages have reached a record low - 10th February, 2010
New loan information figures have revealed that tracker mortgage rates fell to a record low figure last month as competition continued to return to the mortgage market.
A report found that the average interest rate charged on one of the mortgage deals sunk from 3.92 per cent to 3.63 per cent, the lowest level since Bank of England began recording the figures 13 years ago... - Moneyfacts.co.uk's loan information numbers suggest mortgage market is to continue recovery - 4th February, 2010
The latest loan information figures from moneyfacts.co.uk have revealed that the UK's mortgage market is set to continue its steady recovery this year.
According to the website, the number of home loans available since the start of 2010 has increased by 20 per cent... - Mortgage lenders' borrowing levels decrease - 18th December, 2009
New figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show that the amount of money offered to those looking to purchase a new home or remortgage a current property has dropped in November, compared to the previous month.
Some £12 billion of home mortgages were made available last month, although this is ten per cent down from the £13.3 billion of lending in October and 14 per cent lower than September's £13.9 billion...