HSBC to freeze mortgage loan rates - 2004-02-08
Banking giant HSBC, the ninth-largest mortgage lender, will declare tomorrow that it will not follow rivals in raising interest rates for its 350,000 borrowers.

The bank is the first big lender to state that it will not be responding to the Bank of England's decision to raise the base rate* from 3.75% to 4%.

Abbey, HBoS, Nationwide and Northern Rock have passed on the full rise.
Read the full story at This Is Money

Refinancing your mortgage? Fine, but time it well - 2004-02-08
When you refinance your mortgage with another lender, you usually pay at least a day or two of overlapping interest on both loans. No one is cheating you; it's simply the way the system functions.

Lenders try to shorten the period that you pay overlapping interest. They boil their policy down to one phrase: Don't fund on Fridays. There's more to it than that, though.
Read the full story at Bankrate.com