Fixed rate mortgage cuts took precedence this week, some of which from prominent lenders and by notable margins, with only a couple of lenders increasing selected rates by much smaller margins.

As Moneyfacts finance expert Rachel Springall points out these moves fuelled a drop to overall average rates. Week-on-week the average two- and five-year fixed rates fell by 0.03% and 0.02% to 5.49% and 5.30%, respectively.

The prominent brands to reduce selected fixed rates this week included Lloyds Bank by up to 0.45%, HSBC by up to 0.20%, Barclays Mortgage by up to 0.25%, Halifax by up to 0.30% but also increased selected rates by up to 0.07%, TSB reduced by up to 0.10% but also increased selected rates by up to 0.10%.

Building societies made a few rate moves this week, those to cut included West Brom BS by up to 0.30%, Newcastle Building Society by up to 0.24%, Leeds Building Society by up to 0.15%, Melton Building Society by up to 0.36%, Coventry Building Society by up to 0.27%, Yorkshire Building Society by up to 0.31% but also increased selected rates by up to 0.06%.

Not to go unnoticed, a few more lenders moved to reduce rates such as Clydesdale Bank by up to 0.28%, MPowered Mortgages by up to 0.16%, Vida Homeloans by up to 0.30%, Foundation Home Loans by up to 0.20%, Aldermore by up to 0.20% and Accord Mortgages by up to 0.10%.

According to Springall, one of the eye-catching deals to hit the Moneyfacts best buy tables this week was a two-year fixed rate deal from Yorkshire Building Society, priced at 4.39% and available at 75% loan-to-value for remortgage customers.

It includes a free valuation and free legal fees incentive package and charges a £995 product fee. This could be an attractive choice for those looking to minimise the upfront cost of their mortgage.

“As the Bank of England base rate dropped by 0.25% this week, we have already started to see some lenders quick to pass this cut onto their base rate trackers, which is to be expected. Borrowers will no doubt hope these cuts will slowly pass through to them if they are sitting on a standard variable rate deal.”

However, Springall added: “It is worth remembering that base rate cuts are not guaranteed to be passed on outside of BBR-linked tracker rates. Over the past few days swap rates have been on the downward trend, so lenders will be taking this into consideration for their future fixed rate pricing, good news for borrowers looking for a fixed rate deal over the next few weeks.”