HSBC offer tracks stamp duty move

Mortgage lender HSBC was quick to jump on the back of Alastair Darling's budget announcement last week by revealing that it will launch a best-buy lifetime tracker mortgage tomorrow that will "support the stamp duty cut". Darling said first-time buyers are to be given a two-year exemption from stamp duty on any property purchases below £250,000, double the current limit. As stamp duty at that level is 1%, the move will save buyers up to £2,500. HSBC's fee- and penalty-free lifetime tracker is available to those with a 10% deposit for loans up to £250,000 at an interest rate of 4.49%, down from 4.99%. Northern Rock also said it was cutting the rate on some mortgages "to make it easier for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder". Its two-year fixed rate, available for anyone with a 15% deposit, comes with an interest rate of 5.49%, previously 6.69%) with a fee of £595 for buyers or £995 for remortgages. This is easily beaten, however, by Yorkshire building society , which last week cut the rate on its two-year fixed rate mortgage by 0.7% for people with a 15% deposit. The new deal has a rate of 4.49%, the best on offer at that loan-to-value, a low fee of £495 and free valuation and legal fees.