Base Rate Cut By 1.5%

Locoblade

jimbo_the_jetset wrote: »

For those who are making ~£100 + saving it may be worth considering keeping the payment above the minimum and trying to reduce capital while the going is good if you can afford it

Or put it in a high interest savings account if the rate after tax is above your new mortgage rate.

My missus still has her ISA allowance for this year so she's opening a 7% regular saver ISA with First Direct as I type, no point in us offsetting/overpaying the £200 a month we'll save against the mortgage at 3.49% if we can earn double the interest on it by paying it monthly into savings.

ceebeeby

Hi,

Does anyone know what this means for us Northern Rock gubbed people, who are now on their forced SVR. I don't believe we had any benefit whatsoever from the previous 0.5% reduction (certainly didn't reduce the payment this month over the previous).

Thanks for your advice, I'm not very good with these things!

mr_mortgage

matth36 wrote: »

what affect will the interest rate decrease have on the euro exchange rate...is now a good time to buy euros for jan trip to prague:j

Ostensibly, a drop in interest rates weakens a currency - however, this drop was already widely forecasted and therefore built into the market. Given the drop was at the top end of forecasts, there may be some weakening of the currency. However, Eurozone rates also dropped today (as expected, 0.5%) so that will counterbalance the weakening of sterling.

Long and short of it, I wouldn't expect it to make much difference. We've been hovering around GBPEUR 1.23 - 1.26 for the past while and I don't see that changing massively. Maybe we'll see GBPEUR 1.20 before the year is out, but it's not a massive swing.

Jvic28

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me.

I have a Variable Mortgage with Leeds Building Society currently at 7.45% and when I called them in April after having an annual review they reduced my payments to take advantage of the reduced base rate. Should I call them now to see if I can get it reduced again or will I have to wait for another annual review.

Thanks

moneyonmind

pfpf wrote: »

why not? do you mean they didnt pass it on on day 1 or not at all? what reason do they have to not pass it on?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/nov/01/mortgages-property

Not sure why they didn't pass it on - it's definitely a tracker - I'll try and phone them - but their lines will probably red hot - if I'm not the only one

Locoblade

moneyonmind wrote: »

Not sure why they didn't pass it on - it's definitely a tracker - I'll try and phone them - but their lines will probably red hot - if I'm not the only one

Are you sure it doesn't track your own bank's base rate rather than the BoE rate, if they never changed their base rate that would explain why it never dropped for you?

GSB1

GStar25 wrote: »

I have a HSBC Home Buyer morgage. The rate i'm currently paying is 6%. I'm still waiting for HSBC to pass on the last 0.5% cut.

They state...

"Our Home Buyer Mortgage variable rate may vary but we guarantee not to charge more than 1% above the Bank of England base rate".

So currently I am paying 1.5% above the base rate.... not happy.

I am told it should adjust within one month of the last rate cut.

disney_cjd

does anyone know if the FD lifetime tracker has a collar rate? I have asked them but not had a response.

mr_mortgage

Jvic28 wrote: »

I have a Variable Mortgage with Leeds Building Society currently at 7.45% and when I called them in April after having an annual review they reduced my payments to take advantage of the reduced base rate. Should I call them now to see if I can get it reduced again or will I have to wait for another annual review.]

Call them for sure ... can't hurt.

7.45% is pretty high - perhaps it would also be worth shopping around, if only so you have something to arm yourself with them you talk to Leeds BS.

You might be best to wait a day or two to see if Leeds drop their SVR (and by how much), since you may just automatically benefit from that.

Bozzy20

My fixed rate period expires early next year and due to the cuts I am keen to take out the best deal and "fix it" for as long as possible. Why are some people keen to take out trackers? The trackers could go up when then rates go up which will happen eventually so is it better to fix it at low rates for as long as possible???

Boz