Top headlines this week: Halifax is updating the broker website to make applications easier and NatWest has become the latest lender to cut interest rates.
Explore these and other key industry updates below:
Halifax is updating the broker website to make applications easier
Halifax Intermediaries has updated its online mortgage application platform, introducing drag-and-drop document uploading, multiple file uploads, and fewer data fields for self-employed applications to save brokers time. The changes follow broker feedback and precede the lender’s planned rebranding to Lloyds Intermediaries in early 2027, with no action required from brokers and current login details remaining unchanged.
MIT Live: Brokers’ Use of ChatGPT ‘A Colossal Disaster Waiting to Happen’
Brokers who use free AI tools such as ChatGPT without compliance approval risk exposing customer data to serious cybersecurity threats, mortgage technology leaders have warned. Instamo founder Freddie Savondra and Renee Hunt of Mortgage Advisory Bureau urged businesses to effectively use approved systems and monitor AI tools to ensure they remain secure and compliant.
NatWest has become the latest lender to cut interest rates
NatWest is reducing interest rates across its new business, existing customers, additional borrowing and buy-to-let ranges, including fixing the two-year buy-to-let at 75% LTV by 43 basis points to 4.16%. The move comes despite rising funding costs, as lenders compete for business before the end of the year and growing demand for remortgages, with brokers indicating further interest rate cuts may follow.
MIT Live: Review of temporary mortgage rules here by Christmas, says Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will publish its interim Mortgage Rules Review (MRR) report before Christmas, later than the original date of Q2 2026. The review aims to simplify the home buying and mortgage process while promoting a more efficient and competitive market, with the FCA also preparing an updated survey with the Bank of England on artificial intelligence in financial services.
Londoners turn to artificial intelligence for financial advice, but remain less trusting, Lloyds finds
Lloyds Banking Group research found that 49% of Londoners use AI for personal finance on a daily or weekly basis, while 76% have used it for financial purposes in the past year, despite having the lowest trust in the UK in digital financial tools. Londoners reported an average savings of £562 after following AI-powered recommendations, compared to £399 nationally, highlighting the potential of digital tools to help households manage money and save for a home deposit, although concerns about trust remain.
HSBC cuts interest rates via resi and BTL
HSBC will cut interest rates across its residential and buy-to-let mortgage ranges, including deals at 60% to 90% LTV, which could see some fixed rates reduced to below 5%. The cuts come as borrowers prepare to refinance this fall, with brokers suggesting HSBC’s move may prompt rivals to follow despite recent swap rate increases.
LendWell has secured a private client deal with SPF
AI-based mortgage technology company LendWell has signed a multi-year agreement with SPF private clients to integrate AI into its mortgage and protection operations. The platform will use case information and supporting evidence to help prepare documentation and manage follow-ups and application progress, reducing administrative work while leaving the professional judgment to advisers.
The PRA and FCA will ease high time lending rules this month
The FCA will remove the single 15% cap on leveraged loan-to-income mortgages from 28 October 2026, allowing lenders greater flexibility to make loans in excess of 4.5 times a borrower’s income, provided the overall market cap remains in place. The reforms aim to improve competition and access to mortgages, especially for creditworthy first-time buyers, with individual lenders’ lending assessed over a rolling four-quarter period to reduce volatility.
Fixed interest rates rise again despite major lenders’ cuts: Moneyfacts
Average UK mortgage interest rates have risen, with two-year rates rising to 5.97% and five-year fixes to 5.99%, according to Moneyfacts, despite interest rate cuts from lenders including Santander, Yorkshire Building Society and Halifax. Rates remain mixed as lenders continue to adjust rates and withdraw or launch products, with swap rates fluctuating making it unclear whether fixed mortgage rates have peaked.
LHV Bank has appointed Damian Thompson to the position of CEO
LHV Bank has appointed Damian Thompson as CEO and CEO, with him scheduled to join on 4 January 2027, subject to regulatory approval. He has over 30 years’ experience in financial services, including senior roles at NatWest Markets, Starling Bank and Fleet Mortgages, and will lead the digital-first bank’s next phase of growth, with a focus on expanding lending to SMEs.
