Halifax defends rate increases

Rates have been increased on two-year fixed and tracker rates today – the second rate increase in a fortnight - with the firm arguing funding for such deals had increased significantly over recent weeks.

A spokeswoman said: “The difference between LIBOR, the wholesale money benchmark and the Bank of England base rate is now over 0.9%, the highest gap for many months. Unfortunately, because of the very expensive cost of wholesale money, we have no option but to pass on this cost to new customers. Clearly, all of our existing customers are not impacted by this move.”