Insight from Moneyfacts showed that during the month, mortgages were available for a shorter period than in the aftermath of the mini Budget, when products were on the shelf for 15 days in early October 2022.
Further, the average mortgage shelf life in March was lower than the typical 14 days in February and down on the previous low of 12 days, recorded in July 2023.
High-LTV deals fall away
Product choice also diminished last month, falling below 7,000 options for the first time since November 2025.
Compared to the previous month, 1,283 options were pulled from sale in March, and currently, there are 6,201 mortgages available. Moneyfacts said this was the lowest count in two years.
Aldermore Insights with Jon Cooper: Edition 9 – Why lending strategy is becoming more central in buy to let
Sponsored by Aldermore
A larger number of high-loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages were removed than low-LTV options, the data showed.
From March to April, the number of products at 95% LTV dropped from 541 to 368, while 90% LTVs fell from 979 to 759.
The product drop was less pronounced at 60% LTV, where options declined from 820 to 739.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: “The unrest in the Middle East caused mortgage mayhem, with lenders rushing to pull products from sale and reprice at higher rates throughout March. Unfortunately, this has led to a drop of almost 400 options for borrowers with just a 5% or 10% deposit or equity – awful news for first-time buyers.
“The market overall has experienced the worst upheaval to mortgage choice since the mini Budget, yet another blow for borrowers over the past five years, which includes the surge in interest rates during the summer of 2023 amid higher inflation expectations.”
|
Mortgage market analysis |
||||||
|
April 2024 |
April 2025 |
October 2025 |
March 2026 |
April 2026 |
||
|
Fixed and variable rate products |
Total product count – all LTVs |
6,307 |
6,870 |
6,998 |
7,484 |
6,201 |
|
Product count – 95% LTV |
335 |
442 |
453 |
541 |
368 |
|
|
Product count – 90% LTV |
774 |
845 |
909 |
979 |
759 |
|
|
Product count – 60% LTV |
723 |
797 |
790 |
820 |
739 |
|
|
All products |
Shelf life (days) |
22 |
21 |
22 |
14 |
8 |
|
All LTVs |
Average two-year fixed rate |
5.8% |
5.32% |
4.98% |
4.84% |
5.84% |
|
Average five-year fixed rate |
5.39% |
5.18% |
5.02% |
4.96% |
5.75% |
|
|
95% LTV |
Average two-year fixed rate |
6.03% |
5.81% |
5.46% |
5.45% |
6.4% |
|
Average five-year fixed rate |
5.53% |
5.62% |
5.44% |
5.47% |
6.18% |
|
|
90% LTV |
Average two-year fixed rate |
6.04% |
5.59% |
5.27% |
5.08% |
6.12% |
|
Average five-year fixed rate |
5.49% |
5.33% |
5.18% |
5.12% |
5.98% |
|
|
60% LTV |
Average two-year fixed rate |
5.29% |
4.79% |
4.52% |
4.23% |
5.39% |
|
Average five-year fixed rate |
4.95% |
4.69% |
4.68% |
4.56% |
5.43% |
|
|
All LTVs |
Standard variable rate (SVR) |
8.18% |
7.6% |
7.27% |
7.13% |
7.13% |
|
All LTVs |
Average two-year tracker rate |
6.14% |
5.2% |
4.67% |
4.43% |
4.69% |
|
Data shown is as at the first available day of the month, unless stated otherwise. |
||||||
|
Source: Moneyfacts Treasury Reports |
||||||
Average mortgage rates soar
According to Moneyfacts, since the start of March, the average two-year fixed rate has risen by 1%, the largest monthly rise since November 2022. The average five-year fixed rate rose by 0.79%, the biggest increase since July 2023.
Despite the increases in average rates, fixed rates remain lower than the typical revert or SVR, which currently stands at 7.13%.
This is 0.47% lower than last year’s average SVR of 7.6%.
Springall said concerns around inflation had “completely flipped the projected path of interest rates”.
“The start of 2026 appeared promising, especially for borrowers about to remortgage, but it’s all changed. The tide could turn once the markets feel more confident about future rate pricing, but borrowers who are due to come off a deal soon will be incredibly frustrated by mortgage rate hikes.
“If someone took out a typical mortgage now, compared to the start of March, it would cost them around £1,800 a year more in repayments on a two-year fixed deal. Worse still, borrowing the same size loan on a typical mortgage now, compared to 2021 on a five-year fixed deal, would cost around £5,000 more in mortgage repayments over one year,” she added.
