Metro Bank has cut the rate of its high loan-to-value products as it seeks to boost its specialist lending position in the mortgage market.

The bank has reduced its 90 per cent LTV five-year fixed-rate mortgage to 3.59 per cent, while its remortgage rate has been cut to 3.64 per cent.

The lender re-entered the 90 per cent LTV market last September, earlier than many rivals, despite the ongoing pandemic, and has vowed to be “vocal about its ongoing specialist mortgages journey”.

Since last November the bank has boosted its criteria for buy-to-let customers by easing its stress test rate on five-year mortgages, as well as increasing the maximum age for a BTL applicant at the end of their term from 80 to 85.

Metro Bank director of mortgage distribution Charles Morley says: “Right now there are plenty of borrowers with smaller deposits looking for a mortgage. Metro Bank is proud to continue to support these customers, as they move to a new home or look to jump on the housing ladder for the first time.”

Morely adds that the business has “exciting plans to improve our specialist mortgages range in 2021”.

Last month, Metro raised cash by agreeing to sell £3bn of its mortgages — about 20 per cent of its loan book — to larger rival NatWest.

The bank is bidding to turn itself around since the disclosure of a reporting error that affected its capital levels in early 2019.