The Society has reduced its two-year discounted and tracker deals by up to 0.40%, with rates starting from only 1.78% for a two-year tracker and discounted products to 60% LTV.
The new range is expected to appeal to people who are prepared to hedge their bets based on new Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's forward guidance on central interest rates, which suggested the Base Rate will not increase until unemployment falls below 7% - and probably not before 2016.
Criteria applicable to all products include:
- Application fee: £195, completion fee: £800 (fee paying products only);
- Product term: two years from completion;
- Early repayment charges: 1% for two years of capital repaid and, after the product end date, interest to the end of the month;
- Overpayments of up to 10% per annum allowed without charge;
- Free standard legals and valuations available for remortgages;
The Society's Residential Mortgage Variable Rate is currently 5.49%.
These new products are available through the Society's Skipton Direct customer service centre, branches and all intermediaries.
Rates on the remainder of our range are unchanged, including their selection of residential and Buy to Let two, three and five-year fixes.
Kris Brewster, Skipton's Head of Products, said:
"Last week, we lowered the rates on some of our higher LTV two-year fixes, reflecting the renewed confidence filtering through the housing market and to help people who have slightly lower deposits and equity.
"This week, we've seized the opportunity to offer people even stronger variable deals, which we think will appeal to those who are prepared to hedge their bets on Mark Carney's suggestions that Bank Base Rate is likely to stay put until 2016 at the earliest.
"Although nothing is guaranteed, this development means that borrowers can effectively have their cake and eat it - a cheaper variable deal which they can be reasonably confident won't move substantially during their product term."
Kris added: "And there's also the option for borrowers to combine fixed and variable elements into one mortgage with us, potentially giving them the best of both worlds - a lower variable rate and the certainty that comes with a competitive fix."
