Homeowners can fix their mortgage rate at below 1% for five years, with a new deal being launched on Wednesday.

Nationwide Building Society said its new deal has a five-year fixed rate at 0.99% and will be available to those looking to move home or remortgage.

The deal has a £1,499 fee and borrowers need a 40% deposit.

Competition between lenders to offer rates below 1% has intensified in recent weeks.

HSBC UK recently launched its lowest ever mortgage rate at 0.94% on a two-year fixed deal.

Nationwide said it is also reducing rates on Wednesday on other selected mortgages across its two and five-year fixed-rate range by up to 0.40 percentage points.

And the Society is expanding its mortgage offering with the launch of a new three-year fixed-rate mortgage range.

Henry Jordan, Nationwide’s director of mortgages said: “We are launching the sub-1% five-year fixed-rate mortgage for both new customers and existing members either moving home or switching product, something we feel will give them greater certainty over their payments for a longer period.”