There are now 2,003 mortgages to choose from, with lenders launching more than 400 new deals since the beginning of the year. The last time there were more than 2,000 different home loans on offer was on December 4 2008.

Moneyfacts said the increase in mortgage availability is a further sign that competition is slowly returning to the market.

Lenders are also beginning to loosen their lending criteria, after 12 months of house price rises have made them more confident about advancing money to people borrowing a high proportion of their property’s value.

There has been a 38% increase in the number of mortgages available to buyers with only a 10% deposit since the beginning of the year, while deals for people with a 20% and 15% deposit have soared by 58% and 28% respectively.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates are also continuing to edge down, with the average cost of a two-year fixed-rate deal dropping by 0.1% to 4.78% since the beginning of the year, while the cost of three-year fixed-rate loans has fallen by 0.2%, and five-year rates are 0.12% cheaper on average.

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Darren Cook, spokesman for Moneyfacts, said: “Mortgage lending is down and prospects for the future mortgage market looks uncertain, but we can positively say that mortgage rates are heading in the right direction and it looks as if the Bank base rate will remain at 0.50% for a while after the election.

“New mortgage rates are steadily reducing and there is a modest return of competition. Product availability is looking healthier, but an appetite to lend looks to continue to be missing from the equation at the moment.”