HSBC has increased prices across a number of its fixed rate product ranges and pushed up its standard variable rates (SVR).

The lender’s residential SVR has increased from 6.79% to 6.99% and the buy-to-let (BTL) SVR has gone up from 6.35% to 6.85%.

Product lines that HSBC has made changes to comprise its residential existing customer switching range, starting at 60% LTV, its residential ‘borrowing more’ range, from 60% LTV, first-time buyer loans, from 80% LTV, home mover mortgages, from 80% LTV, and its remortgage range, from 60% LTV.

It has also put up rates in its international residential range, from 60% LTV.

An HSBC spokesperson comments: “There are a number of factors that are taken into account when setting mortgage rates.

“While we have continually reduced hundreds of mortgage rates over the last few months, including rate cuts of up to 0.35% last week and bringing back the first sub-4% mortgages since Sept 22, following a period of rising market funding costs there are some small increases this week on some mortgages.”

Verve Financial director Gary Boakes says: “HSBC rates have been very competitive and they are still managing to look at payslips within two working days, so the rate increase is not down to service. Is this as a reaction to the next Bank of England meeting later in March and the likelihood of the base rate going to 4.5%, or the recent increase in swap rates, or both?

“If this is the case and HSBC are going first then I imagine we will start seeing lenders following suit. Equally, it could just be that they want to increase their margins. Only time will tell and we’ll see how the other lenders react.”