Abbey mortgage rates cut but trackers temporarily withdrawn

Date:Friday 5th December 2008
Author: Susanna Kavka

Abbey mortgage rates for some variable rate deals will be reduced following the base rate cut, the lender has announced.

Variable rate mortgages that track the base rate are being cut by one per cent from January.

But Abbey is temporarily withdrawing tracker mortgages for new customers, though it said it would launch a new range of mortgage products next week.

It said in a statement that this is "to prevent excessive in-flows and the impact on service levels this would have."

Abbey also said that it is reviewing its standard variable rate (SVR).

At present, Abbey's standard variable rate is 5.44 per cent. It said that it would announce the results of its SVR review "in due course".

The same reason was given by Alliance & Leicester for withdrawing its tracker mortgages.

In a statement, the lender said it was "to manage the volume of business and maintain our service levels".