Watch out for trackers reverting to svr

When taking out a tracker mortgage, watch out for those which will revert to the lender's standard variable rate after the offer period ends.

Lenders' standard variable rates tend to be a lot higher than the initial rate - typically they are 1.75% or 2% over the Bank of England base rate.

We would like to see trackers remain trackers with a long-term rate of 1% over base rate or less.

In many ways it is misleading to offer a product as a tracker when the underlying pay rate is a standard variable rate.

This approach takes consumers back towards the confusion surrounding dual pricing of mortgage rates, and it needs stamping out without delay.