"We have seen an improvement in the swap rates recently and we have taken the opportunity to reduce our longer-term fixed rates where we see customers can get the best value at the moment," Woolwich Head of Mortgages Andy Gray said in a statement.
Mortgage costs remain historically high, having risen sharply in the past year as banks stung by the credit crunch seek to conserve capital and protect profits. The abrupt drying-up of cheap mortgage finance has triggered a slump in UK house prices, ending a 10-year property boom.
Woolwich accounted for 28 percent of all net new lending in the UK during the first three months of 2008, up from 8 percent a year earlier, a Barclays spokesperson said.
Woolwich's rate cuts follow similar moves last week by mutually-owned lender Nationwide and Cheltenham & Gloucester, part of British bank Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research).
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