Halifax, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, is expected to deliver more woe to homeowners and first-time buyers tomorrow when it raises its fixed rates on loans by 0.5 percentage points.

The move, Halifax’s twentieth rate change since the beginning of the year, will hit homeowners on all levels, including those who hold a high level of equity in their property.

Homeowners who have more than 25 per cent equity in their houses, which have previously been shielded from the worst of the recent rate rises, now face an increase on a two-year fixed-rate mortgage from 6.49 to 6.99 per cent.

On a £150,000 home loan, this adds £47 a month to repayments.

Borrowers seeking larger loans for up to 90 per cent of their property's value will see the rate on a two-year fixed loan increase from 6.79 per cent to 7.29 per cent.

Halifax is also expected to increase the rates on three and five-year mortgages though by slightly smaller margins.

Times Online revealed earlier this week that out of the UK's largest mortgage lenders, Halifax had made 19 changes to its home loans since January.

Despite three cuts in the UK interest rate, and a £50 billion Special Liquidity Scheme aimed at encouraging banks to pass on cheap deals to customers, lenders are continuing to raise rates due to the high costs of borrowing between banks.

Last week, Nationwide, the UK's biggest building society, raised its fixed rates, also by 0.5 percentage points.

On Monday, Woolwich, Barclays's lending arm, pulled all of its two-year fixed-rates until further notice.

Halifax, Abbey and Lloyds TSB have changed their two-year fixed rates by more than the average since January. Rate rises have pushed the total cost of a two-year fix up by almost £1,300 over the term on a £150,000 loan.

The only rates that Halifax will leave unchanged are 10-year fixed rates, providing yet more evidence that homeowners are being forced to commit for longer to their mortgage deals as a result of the credit crunch.

An announcement by Halifax is expected later today.

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