Mortgage fees falling

Hannah-Mercedes Skenfield, mortgage channel manager at moneysupermarket.com said: "This is a welcome move by First Direct, which brings its arrangement fee down to a more palatable level. Borrowers however, still need to be vigilant as often the devil is in the detail; generally products with the lowest interest rates attract the highest fees.

"We have seen a significant drop in the average fees on mortgages over the last year but this has been driven by lenders not passing on the benefit of the significant drop in the cost of funds by charging higher interest rates.

"Borrowers need to shop around to make sure they are getting the best deals on both rate and fees."