Royal Bank of Scotland cuts fixed and tracker rates
April 30th, 2008 by 
Guy
The Royal Bank of Scotland and Natwest have announced rate cuts on fixed and tracker rate mortgages from today.
The rates will be cut by up to 0.3% at a time when mortgage rates across the mortgage industry are rising.
Royal Bank of Scotland made the biggest rights issue in the history of the UK last week, worth £12bn, to raise its capital reserves and also recently stated it would sell its Direct Line and Churchill insurance firms.
New fixed and tracker rates will be cut by as much as 0.1%, while five-year products with LTV of 75% or less have been lowered by as much as 0.3%.
The bank has also stated that it will help those buyers saving for a deposit for a house using its savings accounts with a tax-free cashback offer of up to £5,000.
Paul Geddes of consumer banking, says “Whilst 2008 has seen a shrinking mortgage market, we have actually increased the amount we have lent by 18% and plan to continue this trend for the rest of the year.
“Today we are launching two initiatives to build on this - one to help borrowers looking for a new mortgage and the other for those saving for the deposit on their first home.”
Some of the other banks have also considered making a rights issue, which may help them to raise funding for mortgages, allowing rates to fall more in line with the Bank of England’s base rate.
Posted in Mortgage news | 