Two of the country’s biggest lenders yesterday pushed up the cost of their fixed-rate mortgages – sparking fears that continued market uncertainty will force other lenders to start pulling mortgage deals once again.

Abbey, which is owned by Spanish bank Santander, pushed up its mortgage rates by an average of 0.44% despite cutting its fixedrate mortgage rates just two weeks ago on 16 May.

Woolwich, which is owned by Barclays, has also pushed up the price of its 10- and two-year fixed-rate mortgages.

Abbey, which took almost 16% of the mortgage market in the first three months of the year, has blamed its increase on the rising cost of the swap rates banks take out to hedge the risk of offering fixed-rate deals to consumers.

Financial Times

The Times

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