Halifax, the UK’s largest lender, on Friday brought momentum to the trend of falling mortgage rates as it cut the cost of a number of deals for the second time in a week.

The bank reduced its two- and five-year fixed rates by up to 15 basis points. Other brands within the HBOS group – BM Solutions, Bank of Scotland (BoS) and Intelligent Finance – also cut a number of rates, including on some buy-to-let and self-certification loans.