Research by Mortgage Broker Tools shows that the average minimum loan size has fallen from £141,224 between February 2022 and September 2022, to around £114,776 between October 2022 and May 2023.
This is a 19 per cent fall in the average loan size offered by select lenders, which MBT shows the “softening mortgage availability over recent months”.
The latest Moneyfacts figures show that there are currently 4,344 residential mortgage products and 2,253 buy-to-let mortgages available.
Tanya Toumadj, CEO at MBT, said: “It’s unsurprising that the combination of increased living costs and rapidly rising rates have put the squeeze on mortgage affordability and analysis of MBT data, which is based on thousands of real mortgage enquiries, shows that some lenders have reduced the average loan size they offer customers by nearly 20 per cent.
“However, our data also shows that during this same period, there has been little change to the average maximum loan size available, meaning there are some lenders that continue to offer good affordability options.”
She continued: “In this environment, brokers can’t take affordability for granted. The market is becoming more complex and researching the best options for customers from a wide range of lenders could make the difference between whether or not they are able to achieve their goals.
“Fortunately, it’s also never been easier for brokers to carry out that research if they make use of the technology available to them.”
