I’ve spoken quite a bit in recent months about mortgage rates and the need to stay alert on what rate you are paying.

Well now more than ever it is time to make sure your loan is at the best rate you can get.

Why? Because lenders are just starting to sneak their rates up a little.

According to Moneyfacts, 16 lenders have increased their mortgage rates in the last few weeks and more are expected to follow.

For example, the average two-year fixed-rate has gone up from 2.17% to 2.22% and the five-year average has gone from 2.74% to 2.77%.

Now these are small increases but they do add up over a year. Rates are still very low but this indicates that the trend is now upward.

Halifax, Santander, Leeds BS and Nationwide BS have all increased their rates a little.

This is all amidst speculation that the base rate will rise, perhaps as soon as November.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of getting on to a fixed rate loan, rather than sitting on your lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR), which is usually higher.  This latest news makes that more important than ever. If you are on the SVR or coming to the end of a fixed-rate period, now is the time to switch.

And those who are thinking about taking out a first mortgage or a remortgage should probably act fast too.

There are still some great low, fixed-rate deals around, and we can access the whole of the mortgage market.  But the signs are that they won’t be around for ever…