NatWest became the latest lender to increase mortgage rates for new and existing customers today, issuing notice to brokers of its intention yesterday (Sunday 2 October).

In a note to brokers, the bank said it would normally give more notice of rate changes but was unable to in this instance due to “unprecedented circumstances.”

The lender’s standard recent fixed mortgage rates of 3% to 4% will rise to 4% to 6%.

To be precise, it confirmed rate increases of up to 130bps and 100bps on two- and five-year fixed deals, while rates have risen to 146bps and 116bps on 2- and 5-year fixed remortgage products.

Buy-to-let stress rates for two-year products have lifted from 5.5% to 7.83%, while BTL stress rates for five-year and like for like remortgage products rose from 5.1% to 7.44%.

For first-time buyers, rate increases of up to 152bps and 122bps apply on two- and five- year deals, with cashback decreasing to £250.

NatWest is the last of the big banks to withdraw and reprice mortgage products since the mini budget through the UK economy into chaos.

On Friday afternoon, Santander announced that it was temporarily withdrawing all new business BTL products as well as its 95% LTV two-year fixed rate deal as of today.

It is also increasing all fixed rate products in its product transfer range and residential new business range by 1.50%.