HSBC has cut mortgage rates this week and has made improvements to its buy-to-let range of deals.

The mortgage lender has made reductions to the interest rates on hundreds of residential mortgages by up to 0.20%.

Among the highlights of these new prices are a two-year fixed rate for buyers with 10% deposit which has been reduced by 0.14%. It now has a rate of 4.85%. It comes with a £999 product fee and £250 cashback and is also available to first-time buyers.

Meanwhile, remortgagers can benefit from a 4.11% rate on HSBC’s two-year fixed rate for Premier customers which comes with a £999 fee. This is available to those with 40% equity.

Buy-to-let customers using a broker will also benefit from improvements HSBC has made to its mortgages for landlords. It has increased the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) to 80% for loans of up to £400k. The new range includes rates at 5.00%, available for a five-year fixed rate with £1,999 fee. It means that borrowers can purchase a property with a smaller deposit.

These changes, which become effective from today (Wednesday 12 March), come after HSBC reduced in its Standard Variable Rate (SVR) by 0.25% to 6.74%.

This is the rate which borrowers revert to at the end of their deal if they do not remortgage or switch to a new product.

Currently, according to Moneyfacts, the average SVR in the UK is 7.68%. However, borrowers are reminded the SVR – even when competitive – is still usually much higher than the rate you could achieve if you switched to a new mortgage deal.

Oli O’Donoghue, HSBC UK’s head of mortgages, said: “We are continually evolving to help people with their homebuying aspirations.”

She added: “There is still strong demand in the buy-to-let market, and by increasing the maximum LTV on our range up to 80% LTV we are making purchasing a buy-to-let property more accessible to people and providing greater flexibility, enabling a reduced deposit and increasing the borrowing power of the applicant.”