Halifax offers higher rate for borrowers

The Halifax has launched a new higher "go to" rate for borrowers who take out new mortgage deals with the bank from the beginning of next year. The Halifax Homeowner Variable rate, currently 3.99%, is 0.49% higher than the existing standard variable rate for customers who are already with the Halifax. Existing customers will not be affected by the change and will remain on the lower standard variable rate. The Halifax says customers taking out new deals from 4 January will not revert to the new variable rate before January 2013 at the earliest, and adds that the rate is still lower than the average reversionary rate of 4.27% for new customers of other major lenders. However there is nothing to stop the Halifax moving the rate up: the bank itself points out that "as is the case with the majority of lenders, the rate does not have a cap nor is it directly linked to Bank of England base rate". Santander has a SVR of 4.24%, Lloyds TSB 3.99%, Northern Rock 4.75% and Yorkshire Building Society 4.99%. Several lenders have struggled to retain narrow margins between their standard variable rate and the Bank of England base rate, which has stayed at 0.5% for 18 months. Last year both the LloydsTSB , Cheltenham & Gloucester and Nationwide Building Society introduced a new higher "go to" rate for their new customers.