More than half of mortgage lenders have failed to pass on this month’s interest rate cut in full to homeowners or to guarantee that they will. The Times

The Bank of England cut the base rate by a quarter point two weeks ago, but more than 30 of the 86 biggest lenders in the UK have yet to say if they will cut their standard variable rate, according to a report from Moneysupermarket.com, the financial website.

A further 14 mortgage providers have failed to pass on the full cut to customers. Alliance & Leicester cut its rate by 0.2 percentage points to 7.69%, while Northern Rock reduced its SVR by only 0.15 percentage points to 7.69%.

The reluctance to cut rates will be a blow to homeowners already struggling with higher utility bills and mortgage payments after five interest rate rises since August 2006.

Nearly 20 per cent of borrowers took out a deal pegged at or linked to their lender’s SVR last year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.