First-time buyers and people remortgaging recently-bought homes still face 'debilitating' rates of up to or even above 6% - despite the Bank of England slashing its borrowing rate to 2% yesterday.
The dramatic gap emerged as Gordon Brown warned banks they must cut the cost of mortgage borrowing or face being carpeted by him and the Chancellor.
'Remember, the last time and the interest rates came down 1.5%, we had to talk to the banks before things moved forward but things did move forward,' he told GMTV. 'And we will be talking to the banks again.'
But this afternoon Royal Bank of Scotland, which was bailed out with taxpayers' billions, defied the Prime Minister by refusing to pass on the Bank's one% cut in full. It reduced its standard variable rate by only three-quarters of a point, to 4.44%.
