Lenders defy rate freeze to up mortgage costs

Increases in standard variable rate have been common since the base rate was set at 0.5% last March. On Thursday the BoE maintained this level, but Moneyfacts research suggests eight building societies have upped their standard variable rate (SVR) despite the Bank's strategy to keep the base rate depressed, the Daily Mail reports. Around 5.5 million people have a mortgage on or linked to a lender's SVR, a popular option as they are often the cheapest available deals. But Moneyfacts warns more lenders may decide to increase their SVR in the coming months. ‘The momentum to increas...