HSBC and Gen H have announced significant rate cuts on a range of residential and buy-to-let mortgages, intensifying the race among lenders to attract borrowers as the mortgage market sees rapid pricing adjustments driven by growing competition and changing interest rate expectations.
HSBC is set to trim prices across a broad range of residential and buy-to-let mortgages from tomorrow, while Gen H has already cut rates on higher loan-to-value products in a move aimed at borrowers with smaller deposits. The latest changes come as lenders continue to compete aggressively for new business and remortgaging customers in a market that remains sensitive to interest rate expectations.
At HSBC, the number of products being repriced is understood to be substantial, although the bank does not usually disclose the full scale of moves in advance. The lender will also add some 80% and 85% loan-to-value high-value deals as part of the reprice, widening the options available to borrowers who have more equity or a larger deposit. HSBC’s mortgage business is sizeable: in its 2025 ESG datapack, the bank said its UK residential mortgage book was worth £178.945 billion at the end of 2025, with an average loan-to-value ratio of 22.2%.
Gen H has lowered rates by 15 basis points across its 90% and 95% loan-to-value ranges, marking its second round of cuts at higher loan-to-value levels in three weeks. The lender had already reduced rates by up to 40 basis points across its range on 4 August, and sales and distribution director Sara Palmer said the company was deliberately backing first-time buyers who need to borrow more of the property value. Palmer said: “The first-time buyer market is splitting – there are those with a bigger deposit, and those who have to pay a premium for the privilege of borrowing at a higher LTV.”
The latest moves follow cuts announced yesterday by Nationwide, Santander and Nottingham Building Society, underlining how quickly pricing is shifting across the mortgage market. HSBC has also been expanding and refining its mortgage strategy for years: in a 2022 investor presentation, it said it was broadening intermediary partnerships and digitising application processes, while targeting further growth in buy-to-let lending. That background helps explain why even modest rate moves can matter for a lender with a large loan book and a strong focus on intermediary distribution.
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