Two-year offer from C&G

CHELTENHAM & Gloucester Building Society is offering a new two-year fixed-rate mortgage at 9.6 per cent.

This replaces a five-year fixed-rate loan of 9.4 per cent launched in May, which proved so popular that it was heavily oversubscribed and withdrawn after two weeks. The new offer is available on C&G's interest-only or repayment mortgages of up to 90 per cent of valuation, which will, the society believes, make it less popular with both first-time buyers and those wishing to buy exceptionally expensive properties.

Among the caps Mortgage Services, part of Hypo Bank, has a deal at 9.99 per cent until 1997. The arrangement fee is a hefty pounds 250 plus 1 per cent of the advance - between pounds 15,000 and pounds 500,000 - but there is no collar. And after the first year, when there is a three-month interest penalty, there is no charge for early redemption when one month's notice is given.

The Halifax is still looking attractive for variable rate loans, offering 8.5 per cent on loans up to pounds 60,000 or 8.3 per cent for borrowers of pounds 100,000 or more.