"It's great to see high street lenders pricing below 5% for both residential and buy-to-let rates."
Virgin Money has launched a new range of exclusive products and reduced rates across its range, with residential rates now starting from 4.97% and buy-to-let rates from 4.87%.
Purchase exclusives with a £1,295 fee have reduced by up to 0.22%, starting from 4.97%.
New purchase exclusive fee-saver products have also been introduced with a free valuation. Two-year fixed rates start from 5.84% at 65% LTV, rising to 6.21% at 90% LTV. Five-year fixed rates start from 5.15% at 65% LTV, rising to 5.54% at 90% LTV.
New buy-to-let exclusives with a 3% fee start from 4.87% for a two-year fix at 60% LTV, rising to 4.92% at 75% LTV. Five-year fixed rates start at 4.97% up to 60% LTV and 5.27% at 75% LTV.
As part of the changes, buy-to-let remortgage exclusive fixed rates with a £2,195 fee will be available to purchase customers, starting from 5.20%.
In addition, remortgage exclusive rates are reducing by up to 0.21% and selected product transfer fixed rates will be reduced by up to 0.37%, with rates starting from 5.17%.
Newspage asked brokers for their views.
Ranald Mitchell, director at Charwin Private Clients, commented: "This is a huge step in the right direction with a prime lender nudging rates below the 5% threshold. Competitors will follow suit, that is only a matter of time, as high street lenders try to make up lost ground in 2023. Questions remain as to whether these latest interest rate cuts are far enough to jolt mortgage market confidence back to reasonable levels again."
Steven Hargreaves, mortgage and protection adviser at The Mortgage Co, said: "Fantastic news, and what the market needs to see, let's hope other lenders follow suit. With lenders not lending as much as they targeted at the start of the year, they will all need to fill their order books up and compete for new business, with cheaper rates being a huge factor."
Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages, added: "It's great to see high street lenders pricing below 5% for both residential and buy-to-let rates. Virgin Money is definitely pricing to attract applications from a broad set of borrowers, even if the market has some challenges in the coming days. Existing client products have also been reduced, so everyone is feeling the love from Virgin."
