While Abbey and Lloyds had already passed on the full reduction, the meeting prompted other lenders, such as Nationwide, Halifax and the Royal Bank of Scotland, to reduce their SVRs by the full amount. The part-nationalised Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock also conceded. But many other lenders have yet to follow suit, and have even increased margins on base rate tracker mortgages before they became too cheap - or simply pulled this type of deal altogether.

Contrary to some recent reporting of the way that lenders have reacted to the base rate cut, it's not a simple case of borrowers versus the greedy banks. Jonathan Cornell, managing director at Hamptons Mortgages, said:

"On face value this may seem as though banks are refusing to 'play ball'. Unfortunately, the case is more complex. Although rates have been cut, the situation remains far from a bed of roses for both banks and customers. Many banks are still unable to pass on the full rate due to numerous factors, including high LIBOR rates (the rate at which banks lend to each other).

"As a result, new borrowers are not benefiting from the rate cut, which is unfortunate as it was primarily designed to free up lending and help the UK’s struggling borrowers. It is a no-win situation, not helped by mounting public and political pressure on banks to pass on the full cut."

Furthermore, 51% of homeowners are on fixed rate mortgages anyway, and will not benefit from any interest rate falls until these deals come to an end.

Even new borrowers looking for fixed rates are not likely to benefit from a lower Bank of England base rate. To date, just one lender (Lloyds, which owns Cheltenham & Gloucester) has lowered the cost of its fixed rate deals. But this is by a maximum of 0.6%, which is nowhere near the 1.5 percentage points that base rate has tumbled.

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