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Nationwide for Intermediaries has made fixed-rate price reductions swiftly following HSBC and NatWest’s latest price cut announcements. Nationwide is not messing about with its new market-leading two-year fix at 3.5% and 3.70% five-year fix for home movers with 40% deposits.

That 3.50% two-year fix has a £1,499 fee and borrowers need a 40% deposit to access it. It is available for mortgages between £300,000 and £5 million, just like Nationwide’s new 3.70% five-year fix. These rates are likely to undercut many of the private banks. If you look at Coutts, for example, its cheapest two-year fix is priced aroud 4.4%, and its minimum mortgage loan size is now £1.5 million.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "We expected to start this year with the lenders cutting their rates and making them more attractive to borrowers, and that’s exactly what is happening. Santander recently put its rates up, and I suspect they will come down again soon.

"These price cuts are good news for borrowers, especially with so many looking to get on the property ladder this year or remortgage onto cheaper deals. It is shaping up to be a positive 2026 for price reductions and the 7,000+ rates available from banks and building societies. There is no doubt the mortgage lenders are open for business."

Representative example: A capital and interest Nationwide mortgage of £500,000 payable over 30 years, initially on a 3.50% fixed rate for two years and then on a variable rate of 6.49% for the remaining 28 years, would require 24 monthly repayments of £2,252.02 followed by 336 monthly repayments of £3,115.01. The total amount repayable would be £1,100,691.84.

This amount is illustrative and may vary, made up of the loan amount, plus interest (£599,176.94) and £1,499 (product fee), £65 (final repayment charge), £15 (completion fee). The overall cost for comparison is 6.2% APRC representative.

Lending solutions with Trinity Financial

Are you looking to buy a property and require expert advice? We’re here to help you find a solution – no matter how complex your circumstances. Our expert brokers have extensive experience providing creative solutions to secure mortgages for our clients.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7267 9399 to secure a fixed or tracker rate mortgage or book a consultation or our appointment calendar

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

NatWest offering higher mortgage income multiples

NatWest is making changes to its residential Loan-to-Income (LTI) calculations, enabling many homebuyers and remortgaging customers to access larger mortgage loan sizes. The bank consistently offers many of the cheapest fixed- and tracker-rate mortgages available in the market.

Anyone applying for a NatWest mortgage earning over £75,000 or £100,000 jointly will now be able to access up to 6.0x income, up from 5.5x, provided they have a deposit of at least 25% and they have a good credit score. For single or joint applicants earning over £40,000, the income multiple is also being raised to 5.5x times salary from 5.0x again when they have a deposit of at least 25%. These changes only apply to capital and interest mortgages, although higher-income multiple interest-only mortgages are available to borrowers with a clear interest-only repayment strategy.

What this income multiple change could mean to NatWest customers: A customer earning £75,000 a year could now potentially borrow up to £37,500 more under the updated mortgage income multiple calculations than they could before this change.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "Nationwide recently made their 6 times multiple more widely available, so it is now an option for other borrowers, not just first-time buyers locking into five or ten-year fixes. When more of the larger lenders start offering higher income multiples, it puts pressure on the remaining lenders that don't offer such large income stretches.

"There is no point in going to a lender offering a super cheap rate if it will not offer a sufficiently large mortgage to get the property you want to buy. All of these changes to income multiples are a game-changer for the mortgage market and those keen to get on the property ladder.  Many of the smaller building societies and specialist lenders have been offering up to six times salary for years, but the acceptance criteria was not widely known about."

What mortgage income multiples do the other mortgage lenders use?

• Halifax up to 5.5 times salary
• Santander up to 5.5 times salary
• Barclays up to 6 times salary
• Nationwide up to 6 times salary
• HSBC up to 6.5 times salary
• TSB up to 5.5 times salary
• Bank of Ireland up to 6 times salary
• Teachers up to 7 times salary

Lending solutions with Trinity Financial

Are you looking to buy a property and require expert advice? We’re here to help you find a solution – no matter how complex your circumstances. Our expert brokers have extensive experience providing creative solutions to secure mortgages for our clients.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7267 9399 to secure a fixed or tracker rate mortgage or book a consultation or use our appointment calendar

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meets next Thursday (5th March) and no change is expected to be made to the current 3.75% base rate.

Focus will be on the vote split and the updated economic forecasts, with markets pricing in a further cut in April, as the UK economic backdrop remains fragile, with weak jobs, slow growth, and rising political risk.

In Arbuthnot Latham's latest market update, the private bank states that “The market is very much in risk-on mode, driven by global growth optimism, with stocks and gold hitting record highs.

“The US central bank kept rates on hold as expected, despite pressure from Donald Trump, who is likely to announce his nomination for a new Fed chair imminently.”

The European Central Bank also meets next week with no change expected as EU growth momentum picks up, helped by the Indian trade deal, with the euro benefiting from the growing ‘sell-US’ theme.

Property transactions up in December

Property transactions are up 5% on a year ago, government data has revealed.

The number of UK residential transactions in December 2025 was 100,440, 5% higher than December 2024 and marginally lower (less than 1%) than November 2025.

The number of UK non-residential transactions in December 2025 was 10,640, 7% higher than December 2024 and 10% lower than November 2025.

Residential mortgage approvals totalled 61,013 in December, down 4.8% from November and 8.4% below the 66,634 seen in December 2024, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "There is little doubt that changes to mortgage affordability rules, along with cheaper fixed rates, are starting to make a difference by helping more people to get on the property ladder. 

"It is a buyer's market at the moment, and confidence is starting to return, even though global economic uncertainty remains. Lots of potential buyers have been holding off buying and waiting for property prices to come down, and they have dropped in certain areas, especially when homes have been on the market for a long time."

Lending solutions with Trinity Financial

Are you looking to buy a property and require expert advice? We’re here to help you find a solution – no matter how complex your circumstances. Our expert brokers have extensive experience providing creative solutions to secure mortgages for our clients.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7267 9399 to secure a fixed or tracker rate mortgage, book a consultation or use our appointment calendar

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

Barclays has made a mixture of rate changes including price increases and decreases, plus product withdrawals. The bank is pulling its 3.56% two-year fix, 3.70% three-year fix and 3.78% five-year fix for premier customers.

NatWest has also raised some of its fixed rates by 0.10%, while Santander is also increasing some rates by up to 0.07%.

The cost of funding seems to have edged up, but Barclays has taken the unusual step of withdrawing its cheapest rates rather than replacing them. There is still time for applicants to get their mortgages agreed and secure these rates, but they will need to be quick. Barclays is one of the most generous lenders at the moment, offering low rates and income multiples of up to 6 times salary.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "The big mortgage lenders have not been making as many rate or criteria changes over the last week, although they are starting to come through now. The major banks and building societies had such a busy start to the year to show that they were open for business that the sheer volume of rate and criteria changes was always going to slow down. Lots of lenders are still offering two-year fixes from 3.50% and five-year fixes from 3.75%."

What has been happening to mortgage rates this week in general?

Several lenders reduced their fixed rates this week, with notable cuts from Mansfield Building Society of up to 70 bps and Clydesdale Bank of up to 45 bps.

• Hinckley & Rugby Building Society: Selected and fixed rates – cut by up to 0.18% discounted variable rates cut by up to 0.30%
• TSB: Selected fixed rate – increased by up to 0.10%
• Saffron BS: Selected self-employed & contract fixed rates – cut by up to 0.20%
• Hodge: Selected fixed rates – cut by up to 0.20%
• Mansfield BS: Selected fixed rates – cut by up to 0.70%
• Clydesdale Bank: Selected fixed rates – cut by up to 0.45%
• Skipton BS: Selected fixed rate – cut by up to 0.14%
• Accord Mortgages: Standard variable rate – cut by 0.25%

Source: Moneyfacts and mortgage lender updates

Lending solutions with Trinity Financial

Are you looking to buy a property and require expert advice? We’re here to help you find a solution – no matter how complex your circumstances. Our expert brokers have extensive experience providing creative solutions to secure mortgages for our clients.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7267 9399 to secure a fixed or tracker rate mortgage or book a consultation or use our appointment calendar

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

Market analysis* published by Barclays indicates that from January to June 2026, residential mortgages worth £152.5 billion – an 25% increase from 2025 – will reach the end of their term. Additionally, buy-to-let agreements valued at £25.2 billion – a 22% increase from 2025 – are also set to mature during this period. 

The highest value of mortgages coming up for renewal is in London, with £41.1bn, followed by the South East with £34.2bn. There is also £3.9bn in the North East, £10.1bn in the East Midlands and £13.9bn in the South West. This information is shown in the graph above.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "Many more homeowners than usual will be searching the mortgage market soon to secure the most competitively priced rates because it is such a bumper year for rate switches. With a 25% increase in remortgages this year, there will be a lot of competition between banks and building societies, though many lenders are still offering their cheapest rates to home movers.

"Lenders have been making their mortgages more competitively priced as funding costs come down, which is good news for those coming off some really cheap deals. We are speaking to lots of homeowners dreading coming off five-year fixes below 2% and also the more unfortunate borrowers who had to take two-year fixes at 6% or higher."

*CACI Ltd Mortgage Market Database as at August 2025. 

Lending solutions with Trinity Financial

Are you looking to buy a property and require expert advice? We’re here to help you find a solution – no matter how complex your circumstances. Our expert brokers have extensive experience providing creative solutions to secure mortgages for our clients.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7267 9399 to secure a fixed or tracker rate remortgage or book a consultation

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

Financial information service Moneyfacts says "expectations are high for a booming market in 2026".

In its latest Moneyfacts UK Mortgage Trends Report, data shows that product choice rose month-on-month to 7,158 options, and year-on-year, there are now 650 more mortgage rates available to borrowers. The latest count is the highest since October 2007, when 7,421 rates were available. Mortgages for borrowers with a deposit of between 5% and 10% of a property value are at near 18-year highs.

Although most banks and building societies adjust their mortgage rates regularly, Moneyfacts reports that the average rate remains in place for 21 days before it is withdrawn. This is significantly longer than at many points over the last few years, providing more stability to the mortgage and property markets. 

The Moneyfacts Average Mortgage Rate fell to 4.87% month-on-month from 4.91%. Year-on-year the rate is down by 0.53%, from 5.40% in January 2025. The average two-year tracker variable mortgage rate fell to 4.44% from 4.66% month-on-month and is down 1.03% year-on-year from 5.47%. Cuts to the Bank of England Base Rate have helped fuel the falls.

Remortgage customers will find the incentive to switch has intensified, as fixed rates are substantially lower than they were and much cheaper than the average ‘revert to’ rate or Standard Variable Rate. The average standard variable rate fell 0.56% month-on-month to 7.25%, down 0.56% year-on-year from 7.81%. 

Rachel Springall, Finance Expert at Moneyfacts, said: “Remortgage customers stand to make substantial savings when moving off a revert rate if they switch to a two-year fixed deal. Moving off the average revert rate of 7.25% to the average two-year fixed rate at 60% loan-to-value of 4.28%, remortgage customers could save over £5,000 in repayments over one year, based on a mortgage of £250,000 over 25 years.

"UK Finance expects a 10% rise in external remortgaging in 2026 (to rival lenders rather than taking product transfers), and 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages are due to come to an end this year. However, some of these will include buyers who managed to lock into a cheap rate in 2020, so they will need to seek advice for support if they are concerned about rising repayments by moving onto a higher fixed rate.”

Lending solutions with Trinity Financial

Are you looking to buy a property and require expert advice? We’re here to help you find a solution – no matter how complex your circumstances. Our expert brokers have extensive experience providing creative solutions to secure mortgages for our clients.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7267 9399 to secure a fixed or tracker rate mortgage or book a consultation

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

Your mortgage is secured on your property. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage