New Blow For Homeowners As Lloyds INCREASES Cost Of Mortgages - Days After Getting £5.5bn Taxpayer Lifeline

Lloyds TSB is hammering families with higher mortgage costs only days after securing a £5.5billion taxpayer lifeline.
It not only refused to pass on last week's Bank of England rate cut for its new tracker mortgages, but from today it will increase rates on its trackers by between 0.3 and 0.5 per cent.
The bank is being quasi-nationalised under the Government's rescue scheme. It also stands to gain control of the country's largest mortgage book after Gordon Brown eased its takeover of ailing Halifax Bank of Scotland.

The Government had said Lloyds and other banks receiving taxpayer money would offer 'competitively priced lending' at 2007 levels.

But Lloyds's refusal to ease the cost of borrowing will pile the pressure on families already struggling with mortgage payments and rising utility bills.
The Bank of England last week slashed its base rate by a half-point to 4.5 per cent, but many financial giants are refusing to pass on the benefits to customers

Read more...