By Jimmy Ricemoney blog editor

Mortgage rates have risen since the Budget was based on the assumption that further base rate cuts could be delayed – and while that’s bad news for borrowers, higher rates should be good for savers.

But Money can reveal that some of the banks and building societies which have increased mortgage rates over the past three weeks have also, counterintuitively, cut savings rates.

Anna Bowes, founder of Savings Champion, said: “The latest inflation data should mean the Bank of England takes another pause on cutting interest rates – good news for savers but bad news for borrowers.

“However, some providers have proceeded or are considering reducing their savings rates anyway.”

These include HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, Halifax, Barclays and First Direct, she said.

We spoke to four different brokers who all confirmed that these same big names have increased their mortgage rates over the past three weeks.

We were also informed that Santander had both increased mortgage rates and cut savings rates.

Ranald Mitchell, of mortgage broker Charwin Private Clients, told Money: “It’s a bit nasty!

“As banks and building societies rush to raise mortgage rates, further squeezing homeowners, their miserable cuts to savings rates reveal blatant profiteering at the expense of hard-working savers. “This is a blatant double standard that puts corporate greed ahead of customer interests.”

Justin Moy, managing director of EHF Mortgages, highlighted that savings rates are more likely to be linked to the base rate, which was cut last month – while 90% of mortgage transactions are funded via swaps /gilts, which are on the rise.

For him, the criticism begins when lenders take weeks to reflect the drop in the base rate of tracker mortgages.

He told Money: “We noticed that many lenders reduced their mortgage deals four to six weeks after a base rate change was announced, grabbing that extra margin for a while longer, but are much quicker to react to changes in savings rates, penalizing savers. “.

Anna Bowes said that while saving linked to the base rate explained the decline in variable rate savings accounts, the decline in fixed rate bonds and ISAs was less explained as these were linked to swap rates .

On a more positive note, Anna said “there are others, mainly lesser-known providers, who have increased their prices since the last base rate cut.”

Here is an overview of the best prices currently on offer….

“So don’t settle for what you have,” Anna said. “If your bank or building society cuts your rate, check to see if you could earn more elsewhere. Even if you haven’t seen a reduction yet, is there an account with someone else that could add precious euros to your pocket?

What have the banks/building societies told us?

A Barclays The spokesperson said: “We regularly review our product offering and make changes where necessary. We have seen increased volatility in swap rates over the past few weeks, resulting in higher mortgage rates in the market.

“To help our customers grow their money, we regularly review and contact our customers if we think there is a Barclays savings product better suited to their situation and encourage them to view our range on our website, which is frequently updated.

“Rainy Day Saver prices will be reduced on 13 February 2025 from 5.12% AER/5.00% gross per annum to 4.87% AER/4.76% gross per annum for balances up to £5,000 , but will remain unchanged at 1.16% AER/1.15% gross per annum for balances over £5,000.”

All over the country said: “The country has not made any savings rate cuts in response to the most recent bank rate cut. Savings rate reductions made on November 1 of up to 0.20 percentage points linked to the bank rate change in August and were announced in early October.

“On the day of the November Bank Rate cut, we announced that we would pass the full reduction on to our Standard Mortgage Rate (SMR) and existing tracker mortgage customers from 1 December. We also reduced our tracker mortgage rates for new businesses by 0.25 percentage points.

“We have announced some small increases to our fixed rate mortgage range to reflect the swap rate environment and rate changes occurring in the market.”

HSBCwhich also has First livedid not provide any comments, while Lloyds/Halifax did not respond.