Revealed: The lenders STILL to pass on last month's base rate cut

Halifax, NatWest and Scottish Widows are among those that do not plan to implement the 0.25 percentage point cut until 1 October, while First Direct and West Bromwich Building Society now appear to have ruled out cutting their SVRs altogether.

At noon today the Bank of England will announce whether the base rate (which is the official borrowing rate that influences what borrowers pay and savers earn) will move from its historic low of 0.25%, though many financial experts expect the rate will remain unchanged.

Last month the base rate was cut for the first time in more than seven years, leading to the majority of banks reducing both savings rates (which is bad news for savers) and mortgage rates (good news for borrowers). See our base rate cut news story for full details.

Lenders yet to cut SVRs

While fixed mortgage rates don't change as a result of a base rate cut, 'tracker' mortgages, which follow the base rate, should drop. The picture is much less clear for those on lenders' SVRs – while SVRs often rise or fall with the base rate, they're set at lenders' whim and firms aren't obliged to drop rates just because the base rate's moved.

We've been speaking to more than 20 of the biggest mortgage providers since last month's base rate cut to find out how their rates have been affected. Here are our key findings:

• SVR cuts ruled out entirely – First Direct and West Bromwich Building Society say they have no plans to cut their SVRs, which will remain at 3.69% and 3.99% respectively. That's despite both cutting savings rates since the August base rate cut. But to be fair, even after cuts elsewhere, First Direct's rate of 3.69% remains the joint lowest available from mainstream lenders (along with HSBC following its recent rate reduction). Meanwhile, West Brom's is among the lower end of what's out there.

• No reduction to SVRs until October – Five lenders – Halifax, NatWest, Principality, RBS and ScottishWidows – are only implementing the 0.25 percentage point cut on their SVRs from 1 October, more than six weeks after the base rate cut.

• SVR cuts introduced in stages – Northern Rock Asset Management says some SVR customers saw a 0.25 percentage point cut on 1 September but others won't see it until 1 October, depending on their mortgage's terms and conditions.

• Tracker rate cut delayed – VirginMoney has cut its SVR but will only pass on the base rate cut to those with tracker mortgages from 1 October – it says the delay is "contractual" and would have applied if the base rate had gone up too.

Here's the full table showing what providers are doing:

What mortgage providers are doing

For more on your options, see our Remortgage Guide. We'll have news of the Bank of England's base rate decision today as soon as it's announced at noon.