New Woolwich mortgage launched

Date:Thursday 29th January 2009
Author: Rachel Fletcher

A new mortgage product has been released by Woolwich, Barclays has announced.

Barclays said that the fixed-rate mortgage is the lowest rate ever offered by the lender, being 1.5 per cent less than previous offerings.

The mortgage, available for loans-to-value of 60 per cent, is fixed for one year and then becomes a tracker at 2.29 per cent above the base rate for its duration.

Barclays said that in the current market, this would be 3.79 per cent.

Woolwich head of mortgages Andy Gray said that the cost of lending for banks is decreasing and that competition is going up.

"We are seeing some of the best mortgage rates in a generation," he said.

Last week, Abbey, Natwest and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced the launch of new mortgage products.

Abbey released three-year tracker mortgages with rates beginning at 3.99 per cent, among other products.

Natwest and RBS introduced a range including tracker mortgages with rates reduced by up to 0.65 per cent.