The mortgage market is moving quickly. NatWest, Gen H, Atom Bank and Newbury Building Society have all announced rate reductions in the past week, continuing a trend that’s putting downward pressure on borrowing costs as we enter the second half of 2026.
NatWest has cut its 90% loan-to-value two-year fixed rate by 10 basis points to 4.79%, while its 75% LTV remortgage product dropped by a more aggressive 31 basis points to 4.84%. Its green remortgage at 60% LTV is now priced at 4.43%, a 20 basis point reduction that represents some of the sharpest pricing in the market.
The most significant trend in this round of cuts is the renewed focus on high loan-to-value borrowers: those with smaller deposits who have struggled with elevated rates for much of the past two years.
Gen H has cut its New Build Boost rate by 15 basis points to 6.14% on the 80% main mortgage, which, when blended with the shared equity element, gives borrowers a rate of 5.17% across the full 95% borrowed. It’s the lender’s third round of reductions in three weeks.
“We’ve cut rates three times in three weeks, and we’re not done,” said Sara Palmer, Gen H’s sales and distribution director. “We’ll keep passing through the benefit of falling swap rates for as long as the market allows.”
Palmer pointed to the nearly 1.8 million fixed-rate deals coming up for renewal this year as a driver of competition. Lenders who move fast to reflect lower swap rates will capture a significant share of that business.
Atom Bank has taken a different approach, launching a 95% LTV near prime product for borrowers with light adverse credit. Rates start at 6.59% for a two-year fix with a £1,995 arrangement fee. The criteria allow for up to one default in the past 36 months, provided there are none in the last 12, and no county court judgments in the past three years.
Richard Harrison, head of mortgages at Atom Bank, said brokers “have been calling for more options for near prime borrowers with modest deposits.” The lender also cut rates across its existing near prime range by 0.1%, with products now starting at 5.29%.
This isn’t charity lending. It’s a recognition that many creditworthy borrowers carry the scars of the cost-of-living squeeze, and excluding them entirely serves nobody well.
Newbury Building Society has introduced a series of product enhancements alongside rate cuts. Its three-year fixed rate at 75% LTV is now 4.99% for new business and 4.89% for existing borrowers. Shared ownership products sit at 5.24% across two, three and five-year terms at 95% loan-to-share.
Karen Smith, head of intermediary sales at Newbury, described the approach as “common-sense, flexible lending” that recognises clients “don’t always fit neatly into a box.” The building society has also strengthened its buy-to-let proposition with enhanced discounted variable rates.
For first-time buyers in Norwich, Great Yarmouth or King’s Lynn, where average prices sit well below the national figure, these cuts could make a material difference. A 31 basis point reduction on a £200,000 mortgage translates to roughly £40 per month, or nearly £500 over a year. For households already stretched, that’s not trivial.
The return of competitive 95% LTV lending is particularly relevant in a region where deposit accumulation can take years. Norfolk and Suffolk’s property markets have seen steady price growth, according to Ivybridge Collection property market reports, and the gap between saving a 5% deposit and a 10% deposit can represent an extra year or more of waiting.
While the residential cuts grabbed headlines, NatWest’s buy-to-let adjustments tell a subtler story. Most core BTL rates were trimmed by just 2 to 6 basis points, but the 75% LTV fee-free five-year fixed remortgage saw a larger 15 basis point cut to 4.9%.
For landlords in Norfolk’s university city or Suffolk’s coastal towns, where rental demand remains robust, this kind of targeted reduction reflects a lender betting on the quality end of the BTL market rather than offering blanket reductions.
Swap rates have been falling, and lenders are responding. The pace of cuts over the past three weeks, Gen H’s three consecutive rounds of reductions in particular, suggests this isn’t a one-off repricing but the beginning of a sustained competitive cycle.
With 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages approaching renewal and swap rates continuing to ease, the conditions for borrowers are improving. Not dramatically, not overnight, but tangibly. For anyone in Norfolk or Suffolk weighing up a purchase, a remortgage or a first step onto the ladder, the numbers are moving in the right direction.
