Joe Wiggins, media relations manager at Abbey confirmed the Abbey mortgage range was undergoing review. He said: “The booking fee for our fixed rate deals was put back up to £399 from £299 and our standard tracker product has now been put back up to 4.99 per cent.”
Sarah Gwilt, mortgage adviser at Dickson Lishman Prince, argued the changes could in fact benefit brokers and the lender in the short-term. “Abbey is not as competitive now which I am pleased about as I currently have six applications which were submitted over the last three weeks and some still have not had the survey instructed. I presume it has done this to try and clear its backlogs and phone lines.”
Wiggins went on to add that although some rates had increased, cuts had been made to other products. “Our flexible plus rates have reduced by 0.01 per cent to Base Rate plus 0.49 per cent with another deal down to Base Rate plus 0.75 from 0.85 per cent. We have also launched a fixed rate offer at 4.49 per cent with a maximum LTV of 60 per cent.”
Abbey’s flexible plus deals operate at a maximum LTV of 90 per cent with a six-month discounted rate at 4.24 per cent. Over the life of the mortgage the rate remains at 4.99 or 5.25 per cent. Available at 4.99 per cent the fee stands at £599 while the 5.25 per cent offer includes a fee of £199.
Rod Murdison, proprietor of Murdison & Browning, admitted the products’ competitiveness but cast doubts on the lender’s service: “The combination of low rates, free valuation, free legals and all the flexible options makes this range incredibly competitive. I only hope Abbey’s service is up to handling the in-flow of business.”
