Three more lenders give homeowners a boost

Homeowners received a further boost today with the announcement that three more mortgage lenders are to pass on some of the Bank of England's recent 0.25% interest rate cut to their borrowers.

Barclays and the Woolwich both announced they were reducing their standard variable rate (SVR) by 0.16% to 5.79%, while internet bank Egg cut rates on its flexible and saver mortgages by 0.15% to 4.59%.

The cuts follow yesterday's decisions by Cheltenham & Gloucester and Alliance & Leicester to cut their rates by 0.2% and 0.16% respectively, and echoes a general trend by mortgage lenders since the Bank's decision a week last Thursday to reflect the move but withhold the full rates drop.

Halifax (the UK's biggest mortgage lender) and Nationwide both opted for a very conservative 0.1% cut, provoking criticism from the press. Sainsbury's, Virgin One and Scottish Widows are among the only lenders so far to pass on the entire 0.25% cut to their borrowers. Other lenders, most significantly NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland, have yet to announce their decision on whether or not to cut their rates.

Unfortunately, the qualified good news for borrowers was matched once again by unqualified bad news for savers. Alongside its announcement of a mortgage rate cut, Egg also let it be known that it was reducing the interest paid on its savings accounts by the full 0.25%, taking the rate on its Internet Savings Account down to 3.75%.