A mere month after adding mortgages to its list of banking services, supermarket giant Tesco has reduced rates across its range of deals in a bid to make them more flexible and straightforward. The revised rates start from 2.95% and apply to both fixed rate and tracker mortgages. Lower rate products are available to those buying a new home and people who want to remortgage one.
There are a number of products to choose from, including a two-year tracker at 2.95%, a two-year fixed mortgage at 2.99%, a three-year fixed loan at 3.28% and a five-year fixed loan at 3.39%. All of the aforementioned mortgage products are available with a maximum LTV of 70%. Charges include a non-refundable booking fee of £195 and a product fee which ranges from £0 to £800, depending on the needs of the customer.
Tesco mortgages allow borrowers to apply for a maximum of two payment holidays per year. Borrowers who wish to remortgage will get free standard legal and valuation services. All customers will be able to make regular or lump sum overpayments of up to 20% of the outstanding balance per year during the initial rate period without incurring an early repayment charge.
Those in possession of a Tesco Clubcard will earn extra points as they pay off their mortgage. Clubcard holders will be awarded one point for every £4 on their monthly mortgage repayments.
Borrowers who select tracker products will be offered access to a ‘switch and fix’ facility, which allows them to swap to a fixed rate.
All products will move to the Tesco Bank Standard Variable Rate at the end of the initial fixed or tracker rate period.
David McCreadie, managing director of banking at Tesco Bank, said: “We’re pleased to offer customers some good news by reducing our rates to as low as 2.95%. These changes once again underline Tesco Bank’s commitment to offering highly competitive banking products which meet our customers’ needs today and as they continue to bank with us into the future.”
The announcement comes at the same time as the release of the latest Halifax House Price Index. Whilst competitor Nationwide recently announced that house prices increased by 1.3% in August, Halifax claim they dropped by 0.4%.
According to Halifax, the average national house price in August was £160,256. Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis said that the housing market was expected to be flat for the rest of the year.
Source: Property Wire.