Over a week since the base rate was cut by 0.5 per cent, only two out of 59 building societies have announced they will be passing on the reduction in full to their borrowers on standard variable rate mortgages.
Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, said: "Mutual organisations are supposed to put their members first, but they clearly haven't in the past week. People on SVRs are traditionally those who have struggled to get a mortgage, so they are in even greater need of some relief.
"Because building societies don't have shareholders to satisfy, they can afford to offer much better terms to their customers - this is what their whole model is based on. They have also not been crippled by the bad debt crisis to the same extent as some of the bigger banks.
"Stafford Railway's SVR is at 5.99 per cent so I wouldn't expect it to cut that any further, but providers such as Kent Reliance at 7.59 per cent and Darlington at 7.37 per cent should".
"Britannia and Melton Mowbray have led the way by announcing 0.5 per cent cuts to 6.3 and 6.49 per cent respectively as from November. I urge other building societies to follow suit and announce their plans as soon as possible. Silence does nothing but add to people's fears."
