Mortgage rates are going up - is now the best time to fix?

Mortgage lenders are increasing the price of their fixed deals, with HSBC becoming the latest high-street bank to raise its rates this week.

This is despite the Bank of England cutting its base rate to 4 per cent last month, which was followed by a number of rate cuts from other lenders.

Nationwide increased its rates by up to 0.20 percentage points last week, while Barclays increased rates by up to 0.10 percentage points. HSBC has made a raft of increases across its residential mortgages this week.

Hina Bhudia, partner at brokers Knight Frank Finance, said: “We saw a handful of lenders notch up rates last month, but that’s gathered momentum in the past week.

“Many of the larger high street lenders have raised rates, and when they move others often follow.

“So far, these moves have be