HBOS Pulls Tracker Mortgages

Written by Editorial Team
08 December 2008 / by Rebecca Sargent

HBOS has temporarily removed a number of tracker mortgage products across a number of its brands following the Bank of England’s decision to cut the base rate to just two per cent.

According to an HBOS spokesperson, a number of tracker mortgage products were removed from Halifax, Bank of Scotland, BM Solutions and Intelligent Finance last week.

“This is to ensure that we continue to write a proportionate amount of business,” the spokesperson said today.

Alliance & Leicester has also temporarily withdrawn its tracker mortgages, stating: “We have made the decision to withdraw our tracker product to manage the volume of business and maintain our service levels.”

The Bank of England’s rate cut of one per cent last week brought the Bank rate to its lowest level since 1951 and has prompted the Government to increase the pressure it’s putting on banks to reduce their mortgage rates and stimulate the mortgage market.

So far, Nationwide and Lloyds TSB have been the only banks to pass on both this month’s rate cut and the 1.5 per cent cut last month in their Standard Variable mortgage rates.

However, it is not just rate cuts that will stimulate the mortgage market. Reports emerged over the weekend that HSBC bank has pledged to increase its mortgage lending to £15billion next year, an increase of 20 per cent, and, according to experts, such action could really boost the mortgage market.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd