Abbey is to reduce its rates for some mortgages, partly in response to the Bank of England’s liquidity scheme which will inject £50bn ($99bn) into the mortgage market.

The UK’s third largest mortgage lender, owned by Santander of Spain, said it would reduce rates on its flexible and tracker mortgages for new customers by 10 basis points from the end of the week. It would also change its rates on fixed-rate mortgages available through brokers and branches.