Ten days after the Bank of England cut rates by 0.25 percentage points, lenders including Barclays, Bank of Scotland and Bradford & Bingley have not cut their mortgage rates.

Others including Nationwide, NatWest and Skipton building society have failed to pass on the full reduction to customers. Failing to pass on the cut will cost the typical customer with a £100,000 mortgage about £250 a year. A borrower with a £250,000 loan will be £625 worse off a year.

Critics point out that when the Bank of England raises base rates, lenders typically follow suit within hours.

The banks, most of which have already cut savings rates, will rake in millions in extra profits as a result of their failure to move rates down.

David Hollingworth, of broker London & Country Mortgages, described the behaviour of the banks and building societies as "disappointing".

"Many lenders appear to think they can get away with treating their customers in this manner because people may not notice," he said. "But it’s completely unacceptable."

A spokesman for Chase de Vere Mortgage Management, another mortgage broker, said: "The Bank of England intends the cut to benefit consumers, not bank and building society boardrooms."

High-street banks have just unveiled record profits for the first half of the year despite a sluggish housing market. Analysts believe that, with the fall in new customers, banks are being forced to squeeze more money from borrowers to keep profits growing.

This month Barclays announced pre-tax profit of £2.6 billion, a 9% rise on the first half of last year, while HSBC made £6 billion.

Bad debts have also risen, however. In total, the banks wrote off almost £3 billion in the first half of the year, 38% up on the same period in 2004.

The Bank of England rate cut followed a series of increases last year amid fears that the housing market was booming out of control.

Tens of thousands of people who took out cheap home loans when rates were at their lowest in 2003 are now coming out of their special deals. They face a steep increase in monthly repayments, exacerbated by the recent failure of lenders to pass on the rate cut.

Among the few to have passed on the reduction in full are Halifax, Abbey and Lloyds TSB. Borrowers will see their bills fall from next month.

Last week most banks and building societies that had not cut rates claimed their mortgage rates were still "under review".

Nationwide defended its decision to cut its "base mortgage rate" by just 0.1 points by saying it had been more competitive than its main rivals for several months and the latest cut simply brought it into line.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Milk: do we need a dairy godmother?
• DIY: the women doing it for themselves
• First double portrait of Princes unveiled