Joe Wiggins, spokesman for Abbey, said the pilot would run for about a month and would help the lender decide the best proposition for intermedairies.

The direct products include the introduction of new fixed and tracker rates, low booking fees and free valuation fees, plus £250 cash back for remortgagers. Abbey is also launching a fee-free fixed and tracker rate, which means that borrowers have reduced up-front costs.

Paula Ickinger, product executive, mortgages and loans at Abbey, said: “In our Autumn trading update we said we wanted to expand into areas where we felt there is significant opportunities for growth, such as buy-to-let, and now we are delivering what we promised. Landlords no longer need to shop around specialist lenders as they can come direct to a high street bank.

“This is a growing market and buy-to-let has attracted a lot of investment from new landlords drawn by the opportunity for high returns. With this new range of tracker and fixed rates we are making it easy for landlords to enter the market and benefit from the investment opportunity. Our advisers in the branches and over the phone offer borrowers a level of service that can only be achieved by dealing directly with an established and experienced lender.”