A fresh mortgage price war has broken out with a string of major lenders slashing their rates in recent days.

Metro Bank, Halifax, Barclays, Nationwide Building Society, HSBC, Virgin Money, Skipton Building Society and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society are among those that have sharpened up their ranges.

Several lenders have dropped rates below 3%, but one expert said the lower swap rates, which help determine the cost of such deals, may suggest they do not believe interest rates will rise in 2014.

David Hollingworth, of London and Country Mortgage, said: "It seems the markets feel it is going to be too soon for the base rate to rise."