HSBC, Woolwich and First Direct added to the pressure on an already weak housing market when they raised mortgage rates by more than a quarter-point.
Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers last week, the banks are hoarding cash and reluctant to lend to each other.
The Bank has pegged its rate at 5% since April, but three-month sterling Libor - what banks charge each other to borrow - rose to 6.27% in the City yesterday. In the five years before money markets first froze up in August 2007, the average spread between bank rate and three-month Libor was less than 0.2 of a point.
Rates in the money markets fell between July and early September, pushing down the cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage to levels not seen since the start of the crunch.
But wholesale markets have been shaken and borrowing rates have climbed sharply. Libor rates, which affect tracker mortgages, have risen by about half a percentage point, while two-year swap rates, on which fixed-rate deals are based, have increased from 5.18% last week to 5.56%.
Nick Parsons, head of analysis at NAB Capital, said: "The gap between bank rate and three-month sterling Libor is higher than it has been at any time since before the collapse of Northern Rock a year ago. The Libor rate is the one which matters in the outside world because it applies to individuals, companies and public bodies. Anybody with a Libor-linked loan is seeing a fairly significant increase in borrowing costs."
Parsons said the desire to improve balance sheets had led to banks hoarding cash, driving up money-market rates. "The current structure of interest rates is not consistent with anything we know, let alone fear, about the UK economy. It may be that interest rates will have to be cut dramatically to stop output from dropping significantly. It is a horrible state of affairs."
HSBC said it was increasing its fixed-rate deals for borrowers with just a 10% deposit by 0.3 of a point, while cutting fixed-rate loans by 0.2 of a point for those putting down a 25% deposit. The bank added that it was reducing arrangement fees for people borrowing 90% of their home's value from £799 to £499, while fees for people taking out a 75% loan would be £999.
The Woolwich is increasing its fixed-rate mortgage deals by up to 0.35 of a point, while tracker ones are rising by 0.05 of a point. The move leaves a three-year fixed rate loan for a borrower with a 40% deposit who pays a £995 arrangement fee at 5.89%, while someone with a 10% deposit will have to pay 6.99%.
First Direct increased its two-year fixed-rate loans by up to 0.3 of a point, meaning its current market-leading deal of 4.99%, which comes with fees of £1,998, rises to 5.19%
