Sub-prime crisis not affecting UK prime market

Several UK lenders have raised rates on tracker mortgages for new customers by between 0.1% and 0.25% in the last few days. However, Julia Harris, mortgage expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, says the rising rates are most likely a response to competitive pressures rather than hedging against mortgage market uncertainties. “It is far to early for the crisis to have reached the prime market, with tracker mortgages often financed from the lender’s balance sheet, and only a few known lenders reliant on the current volatile LIBOR market. If the provider remains liquid, the UK housing market stable an...