Major moves came from Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G), which was forced to make changes to its offering after experiencing service problems, while Lehman Brothers began its retreat from the market. A number of other lenders also re-adjusted their criteria.
First Direct confirmed that it would no longer accept new customers as it sought to manage business levels, a move that Drew Wetherspoon, marketing and communications director at John Charcol, was unsurprised about.
He said: “In a market that is moving at an alarming pace, it is little surprise that First Direct has made this decision. However, what is surprising is that it had a product that has been so market leading for so long while others have turned their back on attracting new borrowers.
"The pricing has been more or less 0.5 per cent better than its nearest competitor, some might say unnecessarily. Put simply, borrowers who have wanted a two-year fixed rate recently will only have ended up at First Direct’s door, so unfortunately this decision was always on the cards.”
Bank of Ireland announced that it was withdrawing its two-year fixed rate at 5.69 per cent and its three-year fixed rates of 5.75 per cent and 6.29 per cent at close of business on 31 March, with the broker announcement received at 10am that day.
Announcing the decision, the lender said: “We would like to apologise for the relatively short notice given for this withdrawal, which has been necessary in order to protect service levels. All other products remain available.”
Woolwich confirmed that it was to withdraw a number of offset and lifetime tracker products, claiming that the move was in line with competitor changes.
The Mortgage Business also took the decision to re-adjust its product range with the launch of a self-cert three-year fixed rate at 6.69 per cent up to 80 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) and a House2house product at 6.89 per cent.
This followed its earlier decision to pull products across its range, including self-cert fixed and tracker rates, House2house products, multi-buy-to-let (BTL) and full-status.
Bank of Scotland pulled 15 products on 31 March, giving brokers five hours’ notice to send in applications. It re-adjusted its offering to include a self-cert three-year fixed rate from 6.29 per cent, and a number of three and five-year fixed BTL products at 5.99 per cent.
Mortgages plc also made changes to its range, pulling its entire fixed rate range in addition to reducing its maximum LTV to 70 per cent. It also restricted lending to a maximum of £300,000.
Polly Hughes, head of marketing at Mortgages plc, said: “In common with a number of other lenders, we have recently experienced a rapid increase in new business enquiries. We therefore have no option but to adjust our criteria and pricing to keep control over business levels.”
A Mortgage Introducer source said: “These are worrying times – brokers could be forced out of business. It is becoming harder to find decent deals for clients and there is too much movement from lenders.”
