Why are Accord and Nationwide reducing mortgage rates?

May 12, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Lenders

Accord and Nationwide Building Society have announced a number of rate reductions on some of the products they offer, but what is behind this decision?

The director of mortgages at Nationwide, Henry Jordan, stated that the market is still in a healthy condition and that most people who have a mortgage like fixed repayments because they offer security during uncertain periods like the current one. He added that the decision to cut rates on several Nationwide products had been fuelled by the desire to provide competitive loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage rates that would support borrowers regardless of their deposit size.

The building society has cut rates by a maximum of 0.35% for several products, and remortgage ones now come with a 60% LTV loan tracker. The rate for this is 1.29%, while the fee is £1,499. In addition, Nationwide now offers 1.54% rates for two-year fixed mortgages with 80% or less LTV, with 1.79% for five-year ones.

Accord has also announced rate reductions for loans with a LTV of 75%-85%. This means 75% or lower LTV two-year fixed products now come with a rate of 1.75%, while five-year fixed ones have a 1.86% rate.

Speaking to Mortgage Solutions, product manager at Accord Jemma Anderson said:

“We’ve been looking at ways in which we can offer more support to brokers while the current lockdown is in place, so we’ve reduced our rates on selected house purchase products.”

These reductions should make it easier for advisors with CeMAP training to find good deals for their clients.