Not so long ago there was a big fuss made about exit fees and how lenders had stealthily increased them to unsuspecting borrowers. This said the FSA was not treating customers fairly. So what do the lenders do? They abandon excessive exit fees and dramatically increase mortgage application or arrangement fees - making a mockery of the latest interest rate cut.

Application fees have now nearly doubled in the past two years from £441 in November 2005 to £827 today. I thought the Northern Rock fee of 3.5% was ridiculously high, but would you believe the Abbey, not to be outdone, has an application fee of £9,999 on a fixed rate deal of 5.59% for loans between £500,000 and £750,000! It's absolutely ridiculous.

We know why lenders do it - they want to make up for the extra cost of borrowing money, to recoup the money lost from the exit fee ruse and to keep their headline rates looking attractive. Unfortunately many borrowers are taken in by this headline rate and don't necessarily therefore see the true cost of the deal.

Earlier in the year the Halifax was taken to task by some MPs and accused of trying to deceive customers into taking a mortgage with a low initial interest rate of 1.99%. It looked too good to be true and of course it was, because it carried an application fee of £1,999.

Borrowers coming off a fixed rate deal will be amongst the first to suffer from these fees. Fortunately there are nearly 1500 mortgage deals around that don't carry an application fee so if there ever was a time for seeking solid independent mortgage advice it is surely now.