Together cuts rates for personal finance customers

Together has lowered interest rates across its personal finance products, including right-to-buy and shared ownership mortgages, as part of a comprehensive review of its personal finance offering.

The specialist lender has launched its lowest ever variable rate of 4.85% for council and housing association tenants looking to purchase their home on the right-to-buy scheme, for houses and bungalows valued at over £125,000. In addition, Together has cut rates on its five-year fixed rate right-to-buy mortgage to 5.60%.

On shared ownership products Together has reduced its variable rate to 5.99% and its five-year fix to 6.74%. Shared ownership schemes have proved successful in helping to grow the number of first-time buyers, but not all lenders are prepared to offer mortgages for this kind of purchase.

Pete Ball, pictured, personal finance CEO at Together, said:

“As a specialist lender, we assist customers who may not be able to access finance on the high street, for a variety of reasons; ranging from the self-employed to those with a less-than-perfect credit profile or an unusual property type. Non-standard purchases, such as right-to-buy and shared ownership mortgages are another area of expertise for us and we’ve seen the positive impact that these schemes have had on helping aspiring homeowners onto the property ladder.

“The changes we’ve introduced include our lowest ever variable rate for right-to-buy customers and significant reductions on our five-year fixed mortgages. We’ve also repriced our entire shared ownership range, to help more customers get on, or move up, the property ladder, and we’re keen to ensure that prospective customers and housing associations are aware of our offering and our common sense approach to lending.”

In addition, Together has updated its consumer buy-to-let (CBTL) product range to help clarify its offering and support those customers who find themselves in the position of an “accidental landlord”.

These changes will see maximum loan amounts rise to £2 million on CBTL first charge mortgages and the maximum loan-to-value raised to 75%, while the maximum loan size for CBTL second charges has been increased to £500,000. Together has also reduced rates by up to 1.15% across its CBTL range.