Another week, another headline about lenders cutting rates to a market low.

This time it’s HSBC that has announced the introduction of a five-year fixed rate at a market-leading 1.69%.

That’s a low rate to lock into and the cheapest available right now, although until recently a rival, Atom Bank, had a five-year fix on offer briefly at 1.29%. That’s now been pulled and HSBC has fired the latest shot in the mortgage rate war.

But the bank’s 1.69% five-year fixed rate isn’t available to everyone. You need a deposit of at least 40% of the property’s value, and be willing to pay a mortgage fee of £999.

HSBC has chopped a swathe of other mortgage rates and now has a two-year fix on offer from 1.49%, or a fee-free version at 2.34%.

TSB chops buy to let rates

TSB has also reduced interest rates this week, by up to 0.25% on selected buy-to-let products.
 
Two-year fixed rates for landlords have been chopped by 0.20% to 0.25%, three-year deals have inched down by up to 0.15%, and five-year fixes have been reduced by up to 0.25%.

The lender has also snipped its two-year tracker buy-to-let deals, by up to 0.25%.