Accord Mortgage is set to cut interest rates across its mortgage products by up to 0.25 percentage points, after slashing mortgage rates just a week ago.
The intermediary-only lender is slashing fixed-rate products by up to 0.2% for loans with a loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of up to 75%.
Interest rates on loans up to 80% LTV will be reduced by up to 0.1%, while interest rates on loans up to 85% and 90% LTV will be reduced by up to 0.15% and 0.25%, respectively.
Accord will reduce the product fee by £500 with no other incentives.
Gemma Hyland, product manager at Accord Mortgages, said: “We're pleased to be able to reduce mortgage rates further so soon after our last rate cut. Optimism is growing in the market and we're seeing more stability return to the interest rate outlook.”
“The possibility of a cut in the Bank of England’s base rate in the near future will no doubt be welcomed by borrowers.
“We will continue to closely monitor market developments for additional opportunities to return as much value as possible to our borrowers.”
Highlights of the latest changes include:
For home purchases, a five-year fixed rate of 4.80% (previously 4.95%) up to 75% LTV, with a £1,995 fee and a free standard appraisal. For mortgage refinances, a three-year fixed rate of 5.38% (previously 5.43%) up to 80% LTV, with a £995 fee, free legal fees for mortgage refinance and a free standard appraisal. For home purchases, including new build apartments, a five-year fixed rate of 6.39% (previously 6.64%) up to 90% LTV, with a £995 fee, £250 cashback and a free standard appraisal.
Accord Mortgages is part of Yorkshire Building Society, one of the UK's largest building societies.
The new mortgage deals come at a time of growing market optimism, with respondents to the latest housing market survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicting a slightly brighter outlook for sales activity across the UK following the general election and the prospect of lower mortgage rates.
Over the next three months, 20% of survey respondents expect home sales to recover, up from 10 in June and the highest level of sales expectations since January 2022.
These results show that respondents have confidence in the newly elected Labour Government, which has expressed a strong determination to stimulate the housing market and aims to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years – a figure not achieved since the 1960s.
Looking at price expectations over the next 12 months, 54% of respondents believe prices will continue to rise, highlighting a key challenge for the new government as increasing housing supply in the UK will be no easy task.
But rising confidence, perhaps due to the possibility of lower interest rates, should theoretically exacerbate home buying challenges across the country.
Tarrant Parsons, senior economist at RICS, commented: “Overall housing market activity remained subdued last month, but forward-looking aspects improved slightly.
“Several factors have emerged which could support an economic recovery over the coming months. If the Bank of England judges current inflation to be benign enough for it to ease monetary policy from next month, this could prompt a further softening of lending rates. Furthermore, the recent election delivered a clear outcome which has pushed housing issues higher up the political agenda.”