tracker or fixed and brokers

ProperBo

hello, i'm one of the bank of ireland customers that is going to be affected by the svr rate hike. i'm looking to remortgage. can anyone recommend a broker please, what is the general opinion on other banks following the lead of BOI with increasing trackers. is now the ideal time to fix? i don't want to go to a better tracker only to see it rise, thanks all

GMS

Several lenders have moved SVR recently and general feeling is that all who can will do likewise.

You wish to jump ship now as your rate has risen so it would seem you like the fixed payment in which case a tracker may not be for you as you could end up in the same situation.

Whilst a tracker will be linked to B of E or Libor so a linked rise it could rise all the same. Keep in mind that as rates rise the fixed rates may well have risen with them so the fixed rates of today may have been missed.

All comes down to your personal attitude to risk. Do you want security or will you take a chance on B of E rates staying low. Libor has been rising steadily so likley to continue upwards.

Sory cant recommend a broker, against forum rules.

ProperBo

thanks for the reply. ''Several lenders have moved SVR recently and general feeling is that all who can will do likewise'', can you please expand on this. are there any lenders who definitely won't / can't do this?, thanks

GMS

Nationwide BMR (Base Mortgage Rate) is guaranteed to never be more than 2% above B of E rate, same with C&G SVMR.

No guarnatees that they wont try to challenge this as it is uneconomical for the business. Would have been difficult to do before all other lenders started to move theirs. Whether they are successful with any challenge is a different matter.

Skipton did raise their rates despite a capped promise. Class actions were promised at the time but so far nothing has happened. They cited 'exceptional circumstances' as the reason for doing it.

lizardbouy

I'm one of the (lucky) people about to drop off my fix onto the Nationwide BMR. I've been looking around for five years fixes and weighing up whether to move or not but the more I think about it the more it looks like I've effectively got a lifetime tracker at +2.0% with the Nationwide BMR and no exit fee.

This make sense? Am I reading this right?

If so then I might as well stay where I am, no better trackers out there really and can't imagine a fix saving me money in comparison during the coming years of rises. And if in 2014/15 they are I can switch.

Of course, assumes Nationwide honours the BMR.....

sunshinesadly

I'm in the process of remortgaging and after spending almost 15 years on fixed rates because I wanted the certainty I am actually considering a tracker.

Reason for this is that my current thinking is that the bank of england base rate is probably going to stay at 0.5% for the next 3 years (there's an article on MSE saying much the same). I can get a tracker at 2.09% above the bank of england base rate. That 2.09 above base will be fixed, it can't rise for the duration of the deal. Only the base rate can rise (and with it my mortgage repayment costs of course).

Have roughly worked out that the base rate would have to rise by about 2% (to 2.5%) for my mortgage repayments to go back to what they are now, thus eating up the savings made by taking a tracker now rather than a fixed. For the next 3 years that seems a reasonable risk to me. Best fixed I can get my hands on is 3.99% and best bog standard SVR is same.

As previous poster has said it's about your attitude to risk and your need for absolute certainty which you will pay a bit more for, or ability to be a bit financially flexible and take the ups and downs of the market.