The Bank of England's decision to cut interest rates has given housebuilders a welcome boost in troubled times. Mortgage lenders reacted quickly to the news, eager to avoid criticism of profiteering at the expense of borrowers. The country's largest mortgage lender, Halifax, speedily announced a 0.25% point reduction in its SVR to 6.5%, effective from September 1. The cut will mean a saving of about £16 per month for a borrower with a £100,000 25 year period repayment mortgage. HSBC and Lloyds TSB said they would also reduce their SVR rates by 0.25% points to 5.5% from September 5 and 6.5% from September 1 respectively. Peter O'Donovan, mortgage manager with Bestinvest the independent financial advisers said: "When base rate first went below 4% the cut wasn't passed on fully by a lot of lenders." But I would expect most lenders to pass on the cut this time as they are figuring that there will be another rate reduction." (FT)