UK mortgages rise after new rates hike

UK mortgages rise after new rates hike

UK mortgages will become more expensive for thousands of property owners as a major lender announces a rise in its standard variable rate (SVR).

Santander is increasing the rate from 4.24% to 4.74%, adding £26 a month to the cost of a typical mortgage for £100,000. It is not known exactly how many people will be hit by the rise but it is estimated to be hundreds of thousands of people across the UK.

Santander is just one of a number of lenders who have decided to put up their SVR in the last few months. The banking giant says the move has been necessary due to its own funding costs and that many of its rivals have already brought in similar changes.

Back in May UK mortgages rose for more than one million people when several major lenders including Halifax, Yorkshire and the Co-operative Bank introduced higher SVRs despite the Bank of England's base rate remaining constant at 0.5%.

The UK's largest building society Nationwide has also brought in some increases by putting up rates for new borrowers with a 0.3% rise on some of its fixed-rate mortgages and 0.2% on tracker products.