Lender rate activity is picking up after the Christmas break, according to this week’s Moneyfacts rate watch.

This week 15 lenders tweaked their rates, with the average two-year and five-year fix falling by 3bps to 4.8% and 4.88%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Moneyfacts average mortgage rate fell from 4.87% to 4.85%.

Last week just four lenders made any changes to their rates.

The mortgage type that saw the largest cuts were five-year fixes to 70% LTV, which were trimmed by 8bps on average.

Other lines seeing significant cuts were two-year fixes to 60%, 75%, 80% and 90% LTV and three-year fixes to 70% and 95% LTV, which were all cut by 3bps on average.

Moneyfacts products expert Caitlyn Eastell said: “Lender activity has picked up from the Christmas lull, with over 15 lenders adjusting their offerings. It would also not be surprising to see more cuts trickle through in the coming weeks because swap rates are around their 30-day lows.

“The cuts this week included some sizable reductions from Masthaven Finance by up to 50bps. A handful of the biggest lenders have also cut this week including Halifax by 16bps, Barclays Mortgage by up to 30bps, Gen H by up to 20bps, first direct by up to 16bps and HSBC by up to 18bps.

“The cuts from last month’s base rate would have done plenty to ease borrowers concerns of purchasing or refinancing this year. But, borrowing in 2026 may become more favourable with markets currently predicting that base rate could settle somewhere between 3.25%-3.50%.”