Latest price rises push the most competitively priced fixed rate mortgages closer to 4.5%

by Aaron Strutt

Mar 25 2026

NatWest is the latest big bank to announce it will raise its mortgage rates at midnight (today, 25th March), following Nationwide Building Society, Barclays, and Halifax's recent rate hikes.

NatWest's latest price rises are around 0.15%, which is considerably less than the increases made by many of its competitors in recent days. The most reasonable two-year fix rate mortgages are priced around 4.5% at the moment, although TSB still seems to have a sub-4.30% two-year fix, which is unlikely to be available for much longer.

NatWest and RBS were offering many of the cheapest five-year fixes, but they are rising, so the bank will have five-year fixes starting from just over 4.60%.

Looking at the mortgage best buy tables, any type of fixed rate priced around 4.5% is generally about as good as you are going to get for now, unless you are quick and get one of the remaining slightly cheaper deals from NatWest, Santander or TSB. 

Moneyfacts data shows that the average mortgage rate has increased by 0.59% since the outbreak of war, and the website’s personal finance expert Rachel Springall described the frantic repricing by lenders as “mortgage mayhem”.

Aaron Strutt, product director at Trinity Financial, says: "The lenders typically use the money markets and swap rates to price their mortgages, and while they have risen significantly, they are starting to stabilise, giving some hope that the scale of price rises may slow down. This is subject to the war in the Middle East ending.

"Swaps have fluctuated so much that some lenders have found it almost impossible to price their mortgages and offer new and existing customers fixed rates. Swap rates did decline on the back of news about peace talks between America and Iran, but this was only temporary because Iran later said there weren’t any peace talks. 

"It is becoming increasingly difficult for borrowers to work out whether they are getting a decent fixed rate and how long they will have to apply for a deal before it is pulled. I suspect the cheapest rates have a shelf life of three or four days at the moment. This is where Trinity's brokers are earning their money and helping our clients to secure the cheapest rates."

Lender Gen H cancels mortgage price hikes

In a highly unusual move, mortgage lender Gen H cancelled its planned fixed rate increases, which were due to come into force at 5.30 pm yesterday.

In its email, it said: “Because of the way our systems and funding work, we are able to move our pricing very fast. And unlike a lot of other lenders, we don’t build big buffers into our rates because we’re always trying to offer your clients the lowest rates we possibly can.

“So when swap rates go up, we have to price up – fast. But equally, when swap rates go down, we can price down just as quickly. Yesterday, Trump signalled he was postponing his attacks on energy sites in Iran and swap rates came down. We realised we could issue this happy U-turn. It’s hard to keep up with all of this volatility – but we think lower rates are better rates, so we didn’t want to waste any time.”

Speak to a Trinity Financial adviser today

The mortgage market moves fast — and the right advice can make a significant difference to the rate and deal you secure. Get in touch with our team to discuss your options.

Call Trinity Financial on 020 7016 0790 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.

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