‘The Woolwich Great Escape’ loan to value is being extended from 70% to 75% LTV. The successful tracker deal at 70% (LTV) remains at base + 2.18% (2.68%), at 75% (LTV) a tracker deal at base + 2.48% (2.98%) has been introduced. The tracker rates both come with the switch and fix option, but for those customers who would rather fix their rate straight away, ‘The Great Escape’ is now available with a fixed rate at both 70% and 75% (LTV). The rates are 3.28% (70% LTV) and 3.48% (75% LTV).
All ‘The Great Escape’ deals are aimed at borrowers who worry it would cost them too much to move to better rates elsewhere. They come with no application fee, free legal work and valuation and £300 cashback to cover the cost of a borrower’s exit fee for leaving their present lender.
Borrowers taking up a tracker deal will be able to switch to a fixed rate whenever they choose, without penalty. This ‘Switch & Fix’ feature has proved popular as customers benefit from a tracker rate while base rate is very low now, but have the security of being able to switch to a fixed rate should they become concerned about future interest rate rises.
Andy Gray, head of mortgages for Barclays, said: “We’ve seen a huge demand for the Great Escape package since we launched a month ago with customers moving their mortgage from lenders including Lloyds, Santander, Nationwide and NatWest. We estimate the average customer is saving £1,150 per year through switching. We believe the improvements announced today will help stimulate the remortgage market further as borrowers with less equity in their homes will be catered for.”
In addition to the ‘Great Escape’ changes, Barclays is also cutting the rates on some of its two and five year fixed rate mortgages by an average of 0.20%. The two year fixed rate at 75% LTV is cut by 0.20% from 3.59% to 3.39%, at 80% LTV the rate is cut from 4.38% to 4.19%. The five year rate at 70% LTV is reducing from 4.49% to 4.29% and 80% LTV from 5.39% to 5.18%. Barclays Loyalty mortgages are also being cut by up to 0.30%.
