At the same time standard variable rates remained static, meaning the potential savings for borrowers switching to a fix has improved significantly over the course of the past two years.

The lender said that the average fixed rate now stands at 2.66% compared with the average standard variable rate of 4.49%, with the gap between the two widening by 1.81 percentage points since August 2012.

Big savings

This means that the potential savings for homeowners switching to a fixed-rate deal has increased by 50% over the last two years.

In November 2013, the average monthly payment of a homeowner who took out a two-year fixed rate on a £100,000 mortgage would have been £485. At the same time, the payment on a standard variable rate mortgage would have been £551 – a monthly saving of £66.

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A borrower taking out a fixed rate in November 2015 would be paying £457 a month on a £100,000 loan compared with £555 on the average standard variable rate – a saving of £99 a month; 50% higher than two years earlier.

Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax, said: “With base rate remaining at record low levels for another year, fixed-rate mortgages fell further in 2015. Over the past three years average rates have fallen sharply, significantly widening the gap between them and standard variable rates. As a result, borrowers have been able to make considerable savings.”