The mortgage repricing wave has broadened again within 24 hours. Accord is increasing residential fixed rates by as much as 40 basis points, TSB has made further changes and Virgin Money is withdrawing selected 65% LTV fixed and tracker products while increasing other rates. For borrowers already considering a purchase or remortgage, the issue is increasingly whether an acceptable mortgage can be secured before the next product change.
16 September Update: More Lenders Have Moved
Accord announced on 15 September that it will increase rates across its entire residential and buy-to-let new-business range. Residential two-, three- and five-year fixed rates are rising by as much as 40 basis points, with the changes taking effect on Thursday 17 September.
Accord's existing-customer pricing is also moving. Residential product-transfer rates are increasing by as much as 38 basis points, while buy-to-let rates are rising by as much as 39 basis points.
TSB has increased residential two- and five-year fixed rates by 10 basis points, while selected buy-to-let and portfolio buy-to-let products have risen by as much as 25 basis points. Product-transfer and additional-borrowing rates have also increased.
Virgin Money's changes take effect on 16 September. Selected 65% LTV two- and five-year fixed products and two-year trackers are being withdrawn across both purchase and remortgage ranges. Its two-year remortgage fixes are increasing by as much as 21 basis points.
The significance is not that every mortgage rate in Britain has suddenly increased by the same amount. They have not.
It is that the move initially visible in wholesale markets has now become a repeated pattern of actual lender repricing and product withdrawal.
Willow's 3 September analysis highlighted the risk that rising wholesale rates would feed into mortgages. On 15 September we reported the next stage as HSBC, Nationwide and Santander moved their pricing. The subsequent Accord, TSB and Virgin changes show the process continuing rather than stopping after a single group of lenders.
That changes the practical question for borrowers.
Trying to predict precisely where mortgage rates will be in three or six months remains extremely difficult. Knowing whether a suitable mortgage is available today is considerably easier.
This Is Becoming a Product-Availability Story, Not Just a Rate Story
Mortgage markets are often discussed as though borrowers face one continuously changing market rate.
In reality, the borrower is choosing from individual lender products, each with its own rate, loan-to-value, fee, eligibility criteria and application process.
When lenders reprice, those products can change abruptly. A product available when advice is discussed on Monday can be more expensive by Wednesday. In some cases, the product may be withdrawn entirely.
Virgin Money's current changes illustrate the distinction particularly clearly. It is not merely increasing selected rates. A number of 65% LTV fixed and tracker products for purchases and remortgages are being removed from the range.
That does not mean a borrower at 65% LTV suddenly has no mortgage options. It means the precise set of options that existed before the withdrawal is no longer the same.
A Mortgage Plan Is Not the Same as a Secured Mortgage Position
A borrower can know which lender they intend to use and still be exposed to product change if the required application or reservation step has not been completed.
The practical question is therefore: what has actually been secured, and what remains dependent on products still being available later?
The Second Wave Has Followed the First Very Quickly
Moneyfacts described the latest changes as a second wave of mortgage-rate increases among major lenders.
According to figures reported on 15 September, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate had risen from 4.84% at the start of March to 5.73%, an increase of 89 basis points.
The average five-year fixed rate had also moved higher, rising from 5.66% at the beginning of August to 5.78% by 15 September.
Average rates do not tell an individual borrower what they will be offered. A client at 60% LTV with straightforward income can face a very different market from someone borrowing at 90% LTV, taking interest-only or using complex income.
What the averages do show is that the repricing is broader than one isolated lender adjustment.
A 40-Basis-Point Move Is £4,000 a Year on £1m
For larger mortgages, relatively small percentage movements produce much larger cash differences.
A 40-basis-point rate difference is 0.40 percentage points. Applied to £1m of borrowing for one year on a simplified interest-only basis, that represents approximately £4,000 of additional interest.
On £2m, the equivalent is approximately £8,000. On £5m, it is approximately £20,000.
A 21-basis-point change on £1m equates to approximately £2,100 a year on the same simplified basis.
These are illustrations rather than predictions of what any client will actually pay. A repayment mortgage reduces the capital balance over time, fees differ between products and a borrower may not remain on the same mortgage for a full year.
The examples simply show why a pricing adjustment that appears modest in percentage terms can be financially material when the mortgage balance is large.
Large Mortgages Have More Than Rate Risk
A seven-figure mortgage can also have a narrower realistic lender universe than a straightforward lower-balance case.
The reasons vary. The borrower may require interest-only lending. Income may come from bonus, dividends, partnership profits or overseas sources. The property may be unusual. The loan may need to extend into retirement. A client may require £2m or £3m of capital raising rather than simply refinancing the existing balance.
Once those features are added, not every mainstream lender will necessarily be suitable even before price becomes a consideration.
Losing one viable product can therefore matter more to a complex borrower than to a customer who has twenty near-identical options available.
An Agreement in Principle Does Not Necessarily Protect the Product
One of the most important practical distinctions in a moving market is the difference between having an Agreement in Principle and having a specific mortgage product secured.
An AIP generally indicates that, based on information supplied and initial checks, a lender may be prepared to consider lending a particular amount.
It should not automatically be treated as a reservation of the mortgage rate the borrower saw when the AIP was obtained.
Exactly when a product is secured depends on lender process. In many cases, a full application needs to be submitted before the product can be reserved. Cut-off times can also become important when a lender announces an imminent repricing or withdrawal.
For somebody who already has an agreed purchase or a fixed rate ending within several months, that distinction can be more important than the difference between two initial illustrations.
A Recommendation That Has Not Been Applied for Can Become Outdated Quickly
The same issue applies where advice has already been provided.
A mortgage adviser might complete research, recommend a product and send the recommendation to the client. If the borrower waits several days before proceeding, the lender can change the product before the application is lodged.
That does not make the original recommendation poor advice. It means the market itself has moved and the research may need to be refreshed.
In a stable market, a short delay can make little difference. During repeated repricing, the gap between recommendation and application becomes commercially relevant.
Waiting for Rates to Fall Is Now an Active Decision
Many borrowers have been delaying a mortgage decision in the hope that rates will become cheaper.
That may still ultimately prove successful. Mortgage rates can move down as quickly as they move up when wholesale markets and lender funding conditions improve.
But waiting is no longer the absence of a decision.
The borrower is choosing to remain exposed to product and pricing changes during the waiting period.
For somebody whose existing mortgage does not expire for a year, that may be perfectly reasonable. For somebody with a fixed rate ending in four months or a purchase due to exchange, the risk looks different.
The correct question is not whether waiting is inherently right or wrong. It is how much downside the borrower is prepared to leave unprotected while waiting for a potentially better market.
Securing a Position Does Not Always Mean Giving Up the Chance of a Better Rate
An important part of remortgage planning is understanding what flexibility exists after a mortgage has been applied for or offered.
Depending on the lender, product and stage of the case, a borrower may sometimes be able to switch to a cheaper product if that lender reduces pricing before completion.
This is not universal. Some lenders have more flexible product-switching procedures than others, and the timing of the change can affect what is possible.
That means one potentially useful strategy is to establish an acceptable fallback while continuing to review whether a better option emerges before the mortgage completes.
The operational detail matters. Borrowers should not assume that securing a product today automatically gives them unrestricted access to every future rate reduction.
The Objective Is Optionality, Not a Perfect Rate Forecast
Where lender rules permit, protecting the transaction against a worse outcome while preserving the ability to move to improved pricing later can be more useful than remaining completely exposed while trying to predict the bottom of the market.
Borrowers Refinancing in Six to Nine Months Should Know Their Position Now
A mortgage does not have to expire next week for current repricing to matter.
Many lenders issue mortgage offers that remain valid for several months, although exact validity periods differ.
For a borrower whose fixed rate ends this winter or in early 2027, beginning the process early can therefore establish whether a viable refinance can be put in place before the current lender's standard variable or reversion rate becomes relevant.
Starting early is especially valuable where underwriting is likely to require more work: large mortgages, self-employed income, partnership earnings, foreign income, capital raising, interest-only or unusual property.
If nothing needs doing yet, an early review can simply establish the timeline.
The benefit is avoiding a situation in which a complex refinance begins only after the existing product is weeks from expiry.
The Existing Lender Still Needs to Be Compared
None of the current repricing automatically means switching lender is preferable.
Existing borrowers can often access product-transfer or retention deals that avoid some of the cost and administration of a full remortgage.
Accord's announcement itself demonstrates that those rates can move too. Its residential product-transfer range is rising by as much as 38 basis points.
That reinforces the need to compare the whole decision rather than assuming either that staying is always simplest or that switching always produces the better result.
| Position | What Needs Checking |
|---|---|
| Existing-lender product transfer | Rate, fee, ERC structure, repayment basis and whether additional borrowing is required. |
| New mainstream lender | Whole-market pricing, affordability, valuation, legal cost and whether current circumstances still fit standard criteria. |
| Specialist residential lender | Whether complex income, property, credit or residency requirements justify specialist underwriting. |
| Private bank | Whether the loan size, assets, relationship requirements and desired flexibility justify a private-banking route. |
| Interest-only or part-and-part | Whether repayment strategy, assets and future liquidity support a different mortgage structure. |
Purchase Clients Face a Different Version of the Same Risk
For homebuyers, a product withdrawal can affect more than the eventual monthly cost.
It can change affordability, the cash deposit required or whether the chosen lender remains suitable for the agreed purchase.
A purchaser who has had an offer accepted but has not yet submitted the full mortgage application is therefore exposed differently from a borrower who already holds a formal mortgage offer.
If a lender's pricing changes by 20, 30 or 40 basis points, the revised monthly payment may still be perfectly affordable. But the borrower should know the new position before legal commitments advance further.
Where the purchase involves a larger balance, bonus income, interest-only or a non-standard property, replacing the original product may also require revisiting lender choice rather than simply selecting the next product in the same range.
Do Not Confuse Today's Repricing With a Forecast of Tomorrow's Bank Rate
The next Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee decision is scheduled for 17 September 2026. Bank Rate is currently 3.75%.
The latest mortgage changes should not be interpreted as proof that the Bank will increase Bank Rate at that meeting or any subsequent meeting.
Fixed mortgage rates do not wait for Bank Rate decisions. They are influenced by wholesale funding markets, market expectations and lenders' own funding and commercial positions.
That is why mortgage products can rise before the Bank of England changes its policy rate, and why they can also fall even when Bank Rate itself has not moved.
For a borrower, the important fact is simpler: mortgage pricing and product availability have already changed.
The Relevant Question Is What Can Be Secured Today
A borrower cannot control wholesale markets, future inflation or the next Monetary Policy Committee vote.
They can establish which lenders currently fit their case, what those products cost and what steps are required to secure one.
That becomes particularly valuable when the transaction is large enough that another repricing carries a meaningful cash cost.
It also allows the borrower to decide deliberately how much risk to retain rather than leaving the entire refinance or purchase exposed by default.
How Willow Private Finance Can Help
Willow Private Finance works across residential mortgages, larger loans, specialist lending and private banks for clients purchasing or refinancing UK property.
Where a fixed rate ends within the next six to nine months, we can establish the current lender universe, compare the existing lender's retention terms with the wider market and assess whether there is value in securing a mortgage position before the current deal expires.
For active purchase cases, we can review whether a lender repricing materially changes the finance already discussed and whether the application needs to move more quickly or be re-researched.
For £500,000, £1m, £2m and larger borrowing requirements, the comparison can include mainstream large-loan lenders, specialist banks and private banks where appropriate, alongside fixed, tracker, repayment, interest-only and part-and-part structures.
The purpose is not to predict that rates will continue rising. It is to know what can be funded now, what remains exposed to further market movement and how much flexibility is available if pricing later improves.
Mortgage Ending in the Next Nine Months?
Accord, TSB, Virgin and other major lenders have now repriced within a matter of days. If your current mortgage is approaching expiry, the important question is whether you already have an acceptable refinance position available if the market moves again.
Willow Private Finance can compare your existing lender with the wider residential, specialist and large-loan market and establish what can be secured now while retaining as much flexibility as lender rules permit.
Review Your Residential Mortgage Options →Frequently Asked Questions
Key questions for borrowers responding to the latest round of mortgage rate increases and product withdrawals.
What changed in the mortgage market on 16 September 2026?
The latest repricing broadened the earlier moves from major lenders. Accord announced increases across its entire residential and buy-to-let new-business range, TSB repriced residential and buy-to-let products, and Virgin Money withdrew selected 65% LTV purchase and remortgage products while increasing other rates.
Does a mortgage agreement in principle protect my rate?
Not necessarily. An agreement in principle is generally an assessment of potential borrowing rather than a reservation of a specific mortgage product. Product availability and rate-reservation rules vary by lender, so borrowers should confirm whether a full application or another step is required to secure the product.
Should I secure a remortgage if my existing fixed rate ends in six to nine months?
It can be sensible to establish what can be secured before the current mortgage expires, particularly while products are being repriced quickly. The appropriate timing depends on early repayment charges, offer validity, lender rules and whether a cheaper product can be selected later if rates improve.
How much does a 40-basis-point mortgage increase cost on £1m?
As a simplified interest-only illustration, 40 basis points is 0.40 percentage points. Applied to a £1m balance for one year, that is approximately £4,000 of additional interest. Actual costs depend on the repayment basis, outstanding balance, fees and mortgage structure.
Are fixed mortgage rates certain to keep rising?
No. Mortgage rates can move in either direction as wholesale funding costs, market expectations and lender funding positions change. The current development is that several lenders have already repriced or withdrawn products, increasing the importance of understanding what is available now rather than relying on a future rate forecast.