And, with many borrowers trapped on SVR mortgages, as they no longer have enough equity in their homes or a high enough income to switch to a better deal, a rise in interest rates could leave thousands of households in financial difficulty.
A 1% increase to their interest rate would add over £50 to the monthly repayments of someone with a £100,000, 20-year mortgage. More than a fifth of lenders have increased their SVR since the base rate hit an all time low of 0.5% in March 2009.
Cheltenham & Gloucester and Lloyds TSB Scotland were the only lenders from the four biggest banking groups to pass on the full cut. See the table below for the current standard variable rates of the big mortgage lenders.
Highest interest rates
At 6.08%, KRBS - formerly Kent Reliance Building Society - has the highest SVR on the market at more than 12 times the base rate. The five other direct lenders with the highest SVRs are all building societies.
The average SVR is now 3.48% above the base rate, compared with 1.95% in September 2008. If you are struggling to pay your mortgage, visit our guide to avoiding repossession.
Visit our mortgage deal finder to see if you could save money by switching your mortgage.
Big lenders' standard variable rates:
- Barclays/Woolwich: SVR 4.99%
- Northern Rock: SVR 4.79%
- Britannia: SVR 4.24%
- Santander: SVR 4.24%
- NatWest/RBS: SVR 4%
- Cheltenham & Gloucester: SVR 3.99%
- Halifax: SVR 3.99%
- Nationwide BS: SVR 3.99%
- HSBC: SVR 3.94%
- First Direct: SVR 3.69%
Commenting on market conditions for lenders, CML director general Michael Coogan said:
"Lending rates are fundamentally driven by the cost of funds, not the base rate, although the two were more closely correlated before 2008. But this apparent historical relationship has been blown apart by the move to an unprecedented low base rate since March 2009.
"Since the onset of the financial crisis, firms have been operating in lending and funding markets that have changed dramatically, and we have been reinforcing the message that base rate is not a proxy for the funding costs for lenders.
"For borrowers anticipating difficulty, however, the message remains unchanged. They should speak to their lender as soon as possible if they are struggling to meet their repayments, and lenders are committed to helping them wherever they can do so."
