Woolwich Lifetime tracker 5.74% - any good

luckyfool

In this instance I believe Payless is correct, Woolwich have historically offered Discounted Rates (linked to their SVR) as well as trackers linked to their Barclays Bank Base Rate. To all intents and purposes a rate tracking the Barclays Bank Base Rate is the same as a Bank of England Tracker.

All the publicity about banks not passing on rate cuts to their borrowers refers to lenders Standard Variable Rates which are completely different animals.

payless

In this instance I believe Payless is correct,

you make it sound like a rarity

setmefree2

lisyloo wrote: »

Just to be totally clear, this refers to the Barclays rate and NOT the Bank of England rate.
I think it's fair to say that rise in BBBR would follow a BOE raise but the converse is not necessarily tue.
A cut in BOE rates will not necessarily be passed on in ful.

If you want a Bank of England tracker then make sure you get one.

I have a Barclays tracker, it has always tracked the BOE rate.

luckyfool

payless wrote: »

you make it sound like a rarity

I didn't mean to sound like I was damning with faint praise :A

setmefree2

coconurtaler wrote: »

Our Halifax tracker (currently 5.29%) finishes 31st July so we have been looking at a new deal.

We have about £68,000 outstanding split £28,000 interest only and £40,000 repayment. The length remaining on the mortgage is about 12.5 years but there are endowments finishing March 2010 which should cover the interest only part.

As we have the endowments finishing in less than 2 years we don't want to be subject to any early repayment charges.

The Woolwich Lifetime tracker at .74 above their base rate looks good to me as it also has no application fee.

Any opinions? Are there likely to be any better deals?

Thanks.

The reason we took out this mortgage is because it allows unlimited overpayments - it has no penalties attached to it, so you can therefore save a heap. For example we are currently trying to pay of our mortgage in 10 years instead of 25 - the saving will be £140k.So you will have no problem paying off your mortgage using your endowment.

setmefree2

Joyful wrote: »

They only change the rates once a year so if the interest rate goes down you pay the same amount but clear mortgage earlier. I have just set up a standing order to overpay and will remember if the interest rates go up to increase this!

My interest rate changes whenever the interest rate changes - not annually. Don't know why yours is different

setmefree2

The BOE have kept interest rates at 5% today. IMHO interest rates are most likely to reamain there for awhile. If inflation gets higher they will going up. I can't see them dropping much further as this would put pressure on the £/$ and that would make oil even more expensive - which is the last thing we need at the moment. Don't know if that makes any differenc to your decision.

Spangled

I noticed that the Woolwich have two +.74% trackers - a regular one and an offset one. The regular one has no application fee. The offset one has a £599 application fee.

I'm considering the regular +.74% tracker but I'm wondering if I could switch to the offset at a later date (if, for example, I inherited some cash). Although the regular tracker offers unlimited overpayments, the offset would have the benefit of easier access to the amount you offset plus you can offset ISAs etc.

Do you think the Woolwich would just charge me £599 for the product switch if I switched to the offset at a later date?

luckyfool

Spangled wrote: »

I noticed that the Woolwich have two +.74% trackers - a regular one and an offset one. The regular one has no application fee. The offset one has a £599 application fee.

I'm considering the regular +.74% tracker but I'm wondering if I could switch to the offset at a later date (if, for example, I inherited some cash). Although the regular tracker offers unlimited overpayments, the offset would have the benefit of easier access to the amount you offset plus you can offset ISAs etc.

Do you think the Woolwich would just charge me £599 for the product switch if I switched to the offset at a later date?

Only if the product was still available.

Joyful

When I spoke to the Woolwich this week I was advised that they only adjust your payment once a year. If the interest rate increases/ decreases 3 times you carry on paying the same amount but are paying off less/more. That is why if the rates went up I would increase my overpayments to make sure that I still overpaid.