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Mortgage market still 'competitive'
22 April 2008 11:30
Representatives of Britain's lenders have argued that HSBC's latest mortgage product is indicative of the level of innovation being shown by providers in assisting borrowers.
The bank is helping remortgagers whose current deals expire before the end of June by matching their existing rate for the next two years, with the borrower required to simply pay a fee set according to this rate and to the amount they are borrowing.
Sarah Robson from the Council of Mortgage Lenders commented that while providers continue to proceed cautiously, HSBC's new offer is a good example of the inventiveness and competition still present in the market despite the ongoing credit crunch.
Meanwhile, the Building Societies' Association's policy manager Neil Johnson described the product as 'competitive' but also as typical of the current market, in which lenders provide a range of different products so as to meet the needs of different customers.
He asserted that in this environment, HSBC was unlikely to monopolise the sector with its new mortgage, despite the decrease in the number of products available over the past year, adding that building societies too offer a large selection of reasonably priced deals.
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