NatWest and Virgin Money cut rates as mortgage ‘price war’ spreads

Commentators say mortgage lenders appear to have been unsettled by a fall in volumes of sales after a steep rise in Bank of England rates. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

NatWest and Virgin Money have become the latest big lenders to slash rates on their fixed mortgage deals, prompting claims that a full-scale home loans “price war” has broken out.

The moves came after it emerged on Wednesday that four of Britain’s largest home loan providers were cutting the cost of their new fixed-rate deals, with Halifax reducing rates by up to 0.71 percentage points from Friday, and HSBC, Nationwide and TSB making similar moves.